The Nigerian Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, which means “Western education is forbidden,” released a new video on Monday showing the schoolgirls who were kidnapped.
About 130 girls are shown in the video wearing full-length hijab and praying in an undisclosed location. The number is just under half of the 276 students abducted from their school, which could mean that those abducted had been split into smaller groups to help avoid detection.
The video obtained by Agence France-Presse showed leader of the group, Abubakar Shekau, saying that the girls had been converted to Islam. He offered to release more than 200 of the abducted schoolgirls only until all militant prisoners were freed.
“These girls have become Muslims,” said Shekau in the new recording. “We will never release them until after you release our brethren.”
The recording is the first confirmation that the missing schoolgirls remain alive. Three girls are seen speaking in the video and one says they have not been harmed.
The mass abduction of schoolgirls that occurred April 14th has triggered a global support campaign using the Twitter hashtag #BringBackOurGirls. Michelle Obama posted a photo of herself holding a sign with the said hashtag, which also prompted stars to join the movement and to help raise awareness.
“Our prayers are with the missing Nigerian girls and their families. It’s time to #BringBackOurGirls,” the first lady wrote on her Twitter account.
The UK and US already have teams helping on the ground in Nigeria and an Israeli counter-terrorism team is also on its way to the country.
