Boko Haram leader threatens to sell 200 schoolgirls after mass kidnapping in Nigeria

 
Plea: a woman carries placard to press for the release of missing Chibok school girls during a rally in Lagos (Picture: AFP/Getty)
Michelle Faul6 May 2014

The leader of Islamic extremist group Boko Haram has threatened to sell more than 200 teenage schoolgirls abducted from a school in the remote northeast of the country three weeks ago.

For the first time Abubakar Shekau claimed responsibility for the April 15 mass abduction, in a video reviewed by The Associated Press.

He said: "I abducted your girls. Western education is sinful. By Allah, I will sell them in the marketplace."

In the hour-long video, fighters holding automatic rifles fire shots in the air as they chant "Allahu akbar!" or "God is great".

It was unclear if the video was made before or after reports emerged last week that some of the girls had been forced to marry their abductors - who paid a nominal bride price of $12 - and that others have been carried into neighbouring Cameroon and Chad.

An intermediary who has said Boko Haram is ready to negotiate ransoms for the girls also said two of the girls have died of snakebite and about 20 are ill. He said Christians among the girls have been forced to convert to Islam. The man, an Islamic scholar, spoke on the condition that he would remain anonymous because his position is sensitive.

Threats: a still from the video shows Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau (Picture: AFP/Getty)

Some girls who have escaped from the mass kidnapping said their captors identified themselves as Boko Haram.

Nigeria's police have said more than 300 girls were abducted. Of those, 276 remain in captivity and 53 escaped.

The mass abduction and the military's failure to rescue the girls and young women has roused national outrage with protests in major cities. Protesters accused President Goodluck Jonathan of being insensitive to the girl's plight.

First lady Patience Jonathan fuelled anger on Monday when a leader of a protest march said she ordered the arrests of two protest leaders, expressed doubts there was any kidnapping and accused the protest leaders of belonging to Boko Haram.

It was unclear what authority Mrs. Jonathan would have to give such orders, since there is no office of first lady in the Nigerian constitution.

The first lady's office denied there were any arrests.

But Saratu Angus Ndirpaya of Chibok town said State Security Service agents drove her and protest leader Naomi Mutah Nyadar to a police station Monday after an all-night meeting at the presidential villa in Abuja, the capital. She said police immediately released her but that Nyadar remains in detention. Deputy Superintendent Daniel Altine, police spokeswoman for Abuja, said she had no information but would investigate.

On Sunday night, Jonathan said his administration was doing everything possible. On Friday he created a presidential committee to go to the affected Borno state to work with the community on a strategy for the release.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT