The terrorist Islamic sect, Boko Haram, on
Monday claimed responsibility for the April 14
abduction of over 267 pupils of Government Girls’
Secondary School, Chibok, in Borno State.
The Agence France-Presse quoted the leader of
the sect, Abubakar Shekau, as making the claim in
a video the agency said it obtained.
Shekau, in the video, also threatened to sell off
the abducted girls in defiance of international
outrage that greeted the kidnapping of the girls
from their hostel.
Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the seizure
of the girls barely 24hours after President
Goodluck Jonathan told the nation that no group
had claimed responsibility for the abduction.
Also, the President’s wife, Patience, has
expressed doubt about the authenticity of the
kidnapping.
“We the Nigerian women are saying that no child
is missing in Borno State. If any child is missing,
let the governor go and look for them. There is
nothing we can do again,”Mrs Jonathan told the
women who met with her in the Presidential Villa
on Monday.
But, Shekau was quoted to have said, “I abducted
your girls. I will sell them in the market, by
Allah.”
He spoke just as the Daily Telegraph of London
reported that a former British Prime Minister
Gordon Brown, who is now a UN special envoy on
education, led calls for Western governments to
assist with the rescue of the girls.
According to the report, a Foreign Office
spokesman said the government was in talks with
the Nigerian government and ‘security services’
but declined to say if that might include Special
Forces, such as the SAS.
The United States Secretary of State, John Kerry,
over the weekend also promised America’s help.
He said, “The kidnapping of hundreds of children
by Boko Haram is an unconscionable crime and
we will do everything possible to support the
Nigerian government to return these young
women to their homes and to hold the
perpetrators to justice.”
When one of our correspondents contacted the
Director of Defence Information, Maj.-Gen Chris
Olukolade, he said that the military authorities had
not seen the said video.
He said that even if there was such a video, the
claim would have to be verified.
Olukolade added that the military had been
treating all claims and pieces of information
relating to the abduction of the schoolgirls with
the deserved seriousness.
The Defence spokesman added,“On the so-
called video or message from the terrorists, let
me reiterate the fact that the military is taking
every information or claims on this abduction with
due seriousness.
“This claim will also be studied although it will
not distract the ongoing search.”
It was however learnt that the Nigerian military
had been working on an intelligence report that
efforts were being made to get all the students
that registered for the Senior Secondary
Examination in Chibok, out of Borno State.
A source said that the move was part of a
conspiracy to frustrate government investigation
into the incident.
The BBC, also citing the video obtained by the
AFP, also quoted Shekau as saying the girls
should not have been in school in the first place,
but rather should get married.
“God instructed me to sell them, they are his
properties and I will carry out his instructions,” he
said.
Assurances from President Goodluck Jonathan
have done little to convince Nigerians of the
government’s commitment to freeing the girls.
Boko Haram, which means “Western education is
forbidden”, has attacked numerous places of
worship and educational institutions in northern
Nigeria.
The Associated Press said it was unclear whether
the video was made before or after reports last
week that some of the girls had been forced to
marry their abductors, who paid a nominal bride
price of N200.
Others are reported to have been taken across
borders into Cameroon and Chad.
The girls were in their final year of school, most of
them aged 16 to 18.
Shekau in the 57-minute video also insisted that
the girls were no better than the “booty of war.”
The terrorist, who is currently on the most wanted
list of both Nigerian and the US governments, said
the abducted schoolgirls were no more than
slaves that he could choose whatever he wanted
to do with them.
He admitted that the girls had sent over 20 days
in his custody and that he had not treated them
any better than the “booty of war.”
Shekau who did not display the girls throughout
the recording, said, “We would also give their
hands in marriage because they are our slaves.
We would marry them out at the age of nine. We
would marry them out at the age of 12,” it
depends on “our choice”.
The terrorist leader, who spoke in Hausa and
Arabic languages interchangeably, noted that the
girls were captured because they were seeking
Western education.
“Western education is sin, it is forbidden, and
women must go and marry,” he said.
The video, which had been sent to local
journalists via electronic mail, could not however
be independently verified.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Jonathan said on Monday that no
girl was missing.
She said this while speaking on the arrest on
Sunday of Naomi Murlah, one of the women who
participated in a recent protest on the abduction
of the schoolgirls.
Murlah was picked up by the police on Sunday
after a meeting she had with the President’s wife
alongside other campaigners. Police confirmed on
Monday that she was quizzed and released.
A statement by the Force Public Relations Officer,
Frank Mba, on Monday said Murlah was invited
for an “interactive and fact-finding interview.”
The statement added that the woman was allowed
to go home immediately after the interview.
The woman was alleged to have gained access
into the Presidential Villa, disguising as a mother
of one of the girls.
But a group, Bring Back Our Girls Movement,
which is championing the release of the 234
abducted girls, alleged that Murlah was arrested
by the police on the orders of the President’s
wife.
Murlah, who is a Deputy Director with the
National Directorate of Employment in Abuja, was
said to have been cleared by security agents to
attend the meeting after presenting herself as
Grace.
Grace was on the list of those expected at the
meeting.
Mrs. Jonathan told the gathering of women that
Murlah had earlier approached her that she was
the mother of one of the girls.
“So my sisters, you can all see that within them
they know what they are doing. With what is
happening now, will you believe that any children
got missing?” she asked the women in attendance
at the meeting, and the women chorused “no.”
She then said, “So, we the Nigerian women are
saying that no child is missing in Borno State. If
any child is missing, let the governor go and look
for them. There is nothing we can do again.
“We will now go spiritual. What we women should
pray for now is for the killings in Borno to stop.
God will reveal them one by one. The blood of the
innocent victims will come out and speak.”
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