Chibok two years on: mothers say their daughters are in new Boko Haram video
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Chibok schoolgirls in the 2014 video released by Boko Haram
Three mothers of schoolgirls abducted from Chibok in northeastNigeria two years ago said they had identified their daughtersin a video released by Islamist group Boko Haram – the firstpossible sighting of the girls since a video in May 2014.
About 15 girls featured in the video released to localofficials yesterday, saying they were from the Government GirlsSecondary School in Chibok and pleading with the Nigeriangovernment to co-operate with Boko Haram on their release.
The girls were filmed saying they were being treated wellbut wanted to go home and be with their families.
Boko Haram militants abducted 276 schoolgirls from Chibok onApril 14, 2014, with 57 students managing to escape but 219still missing despite the global #BringBackOurGirls campaign involving celebrities and United States First Lady Michelle Obama.
Various false leads have raised hopes of finding the girlsbut their whereabouts remains unknown.
Mothers Rifkatu Ayuba and Mary Ishaya said they recognisedtheir daughters, Saratu and Hauwa, in the video, while a thirdmother, Yana Galang, identified five of the missing girls. Localofficials said more identifications were needed.
“The girls were looking very, very well,” Galang said in atelephone interview with the Thomson Reuters Foundation afterviewing the video at a screening organised by local officials inMaiduguri, capital of Borno state in northeast Nigeria.
The three mothers were invited to the viewing by the chairmanof Chibok local government area, Bana Lawan, who confirmed thathe had paid their travel costs to Maiduguri, the state capital.
The kidnapping of the girls has become a political issue inNigeria with the government and military criticised for theirhandling of the incident and failing to track down the girls.
#BringBackOurGirls protest on first anniversary of the abduction
“They were definitely our daughters … all we want is forthe government to bring back our girls,” said Galang, addingall the girls were wearing hijabs in the video.
No member of Boko Haram was visible in the video and localofficials were not immediately available to give details on howthey received the video.
“We only heard a man’s voice and saw his finger pointing atthe girls one after the other,” Galang said.
She said the girls in the video spoke in Hausa, a languagewidely spoken in Nigeria, and Kibaku, the local Chibok language.
Galang said one mother, Ayuba, was relieved to see herdaughter as she had heard a rumour shortly after the kidnappingthat her daughter had been killed by Boko Haram.
“She was very happy to see her in the video … her daughteris alive,” Galang said.
About 2000 girls and boys have been abducted by the BokoHaram since 2014, with many used as sex slaves, fighters andeven suicide bombers, according to Amnesty International.
This week a report from the United Nations children’s fund said Boko Haram child “suicide bombings” have surged11-fold in West Africa over the last year, with children asyoung as eight, mostly girls, used to bomb schools and markets. UNICEF said there were 44 child “suicide bombings” in WestAfrica in 2015, up from four in 2014, mostly in Cameroon andNigeria.
Boko Haram’s six-year campaign to set up an Islamic emiratein northeastern Nigeria has killed some 15,000 people, accordingto the US military.
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