http://zeenews.india.com/news/world/boko-haram-says-kidnapped-schoolgirls-married-off_1492403.html
Boko Haram says kidnapped schoolgirls `married off`
Last Updated: Saturday, November 1,
2014 - 19:43
Kano: Boko Haram has claimed
the 219 schoolgirls it kidnapped in Nigeria earlier this year have converted to
Islam and been married off, according to a new video obtained by AFP on Friday.
The Islamist group`s leader, Abubakar
Shekau, also denied claims by Nigeria`s government that it had agreed to a
ceasefire and apparently ruled out future talks.
In addition, Shekau said the
Islamists were holding a German national, who was kidnapped in Adamawa state in
northeast Nigeria in July.
The schoolgirls were kidnapped from
the remote northeast town of Chibok in Borno state in April, raising global
awareness about the group whose five-year insurgency in northern Nigeria has
claimed an estimated 13,000 lives.
The new video comes after a surprise
announcement by the Nigerian military and presidency on October 17 that a deal
had been reached with the militants to end hostilities and return the children.
There was immediate scepticism about
both claims. Previous ceasefires have proved fruitless and there is little
trust in the influence of the purported Boko Haram envoy, Danladi Ahmadu.
Violence -- and fresh kidnappings --
have continued unabated since the announcement, including a triple bombing of a
bus station in the northern city of Gombe on Friday that killed at least eight.
Nigeria`s government maintains that
talks are ongoing in the Chadian capital, Ndjamena.
But Shekau, speaking in Hausa,
dressed in military fatigues and boots with a black turban, and flanked by 15
armed fighters, said: "We have not made ceasefire with anyone.
"We did not negotiate with
anyone... It`s a lie. It`s a lie. We will not negotiate. What is our business
with negotiation? Allah said we should not."
He also said he did not know
Danladi.There was no indication of when or where the video was shot but it was
obtained through the same channels as previous communications from the group.
In it, Shekau mentions the Chibok
girls for the first time since a video obtained on May 5, when more than 100
were shown in a rural location dressed in the hijab and reciting verses from
the Koran.
Then, the militant leader said many
of the girls had converted to Islam but in the latest, he indicated that all of
those held had become Muslims.
"Don`t you know the over 200
Chibok schoolgirls have converted to Islam? They have now memorised two
chapters of the Koran," he said.
Shekau previously threatened to sell
the girls as slave brides and also suggested he would be prepared to release
them in exchange for Boko Haram prisoners.
In the latest message, he said while
laughing: "We have married them off. They are in their marital
homes."
Human Rights Watch said in a report
published this week that Boko Haram was holding upwards of 500 women and young
girls and that forced marriage was commonplace in the militant camps.
One former hostage said she saw some
of the Chibok girls forced to cook and clean for other women and girls who had
been chosen for "special treatment because of their beauty".Shekau`s
claim in the video that they were "holding your German hostage" is
the first claim of responsibility for the abduction, which happened on July 16.
The German foreign ministry in
Berlin said it did not want to comment when contacted by AFP.
Armed gunmen kidnapped the
foreigner, who was said to be a teacher at a government technical training
centre in Gombi, about 100 kilometres (62 miles) from the Adamawa state capital
Yola.
Suspicion immediately fell on Boko
Haram, which has repeatedly attacked schools teaching a so-called Western
curriculum, as well as teachers and students.
An offshoot of Boko Haram, Ansaru,
has previously claimed the kidnapping of at least eight foreigners in northern
Nigeria since 2012 but the group has been largely dormant for more than a year.
The group reportedly broke with Boko
Haram to specifically target foreigners instead of Nigerians and executed seven
expatriates it seized from Bauchi state in 2013.
In January 2012, Boko Haram
kidnapped German engineer Edgar Raupach at a construction site on the outskirts
of the northern city of Kano.
He was killed during a military raid
on a Boko Haram hideout on the outskirts of the city four months later.
Kidnappings for ransom by criminal
gangs are common in the oil-producing south. On October 24, armed men shot dead
one German national and kidnapped another in Ogun state, southwest Nigeria.
Both were working for the
construction firm Julius Berger. The hostage was later released, the company
said on Thursday.
The United Nations refugee agency
(UNHCR) on Friday said worsening Boko Haram violence in northeast Nigeria and
cross-border attacks inside Cameroon had heightened fear and made it
increasingly difficult to relocate refugees.
"Cameroonian civilians are
living in a state of terror due to frequent insurgent attacks," a
statement said.
AFP
First Published: Saturday, November
1, 2014 - 10:33
