- DHQ: Troops targeted terrorists
- FG: We’re in touch with abductors
- Army declares journalist, Salkida, wanted over link with the sect
…offers to free girls in exchange for detained member
The Boko Haram sect has accused the Nigerian military of killing some
of the Chibok schoolgirls in airstrikes carried out by the Nigerian Air
Force (NAF). This was as the group insisted that the abducted
schoolgirls will remain in captivity, unless the Federal Government
released all its members in detention.
The demand was made by a suspected commander of the sect, who
appeared in a video showing some of the over 200 girls suspected to be
the Chibok schoolgirls, who have remained in captivity since April 14,
2014, when they were abducted at the Government Girls’ School Chibok,
Borno State. However, the Federal Government has reassured the public
that it was doing everything to ensure the safe return of the girls.
This came as the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) disclosed yesterday that
it was studying the latest video, with a view to ascertaining its
authenticity or otherwise.
The video, cited by the SITE Intelligence Group, was posted by Ahmad
Salkida on YouTube. Salkida, a Nigerian journalist, is believed to have
good contacts with Boko Haram. Salkida said he was given the video by
associates of Abubakar Shekau, the factional leader of the terrorist
group.
In the latest video, the masked commander, who is seen wielding a
gun, claimed that some of the girls were nursing lifethreatening
injuries, while about 40 have been given out in marriage.
The fighter, who spoke in Hausa, vowed that the abducted girls may
never be released, unless detained fighters, who he said have been “in
detention for ages” are released.
Also in the video, bodies of some girls suspected to have been killed
during air strikes are seen on one side. In apparent demonstration of
his seriousness, the Boko Haram terrorist was seen in an interview with a
girl who gave her name as Maida Yakubu.
The schoolgirl called on parents to appeal to the Federal Government
to accede to the request to free detained fighters, for their (the
Chibok girls’) rescue. While another girl was seen holding a baby,
others were seen weeping, ostensibly to hasten government’s concession.
Part of the translation reads: “It pleased God to let us have these
girls in our captivity for over two years now. Our first message is to
the parents of the girls to let them know that their daughters are still
with us, some of them.
“I also want to tell them to ask the Nigerian government to release
our brethren, especially those in Maiduguri, Lagos and Abuja and other
places across Nigeria. They should be released immediately.
“You all knew that we had the girls, but God never allowed you to
know their location and you will never know by God’s grace. You keep
lying in your media that you will rescue them, they have been with us
for over two years, yet you can’t even know where they are.
You have just been lying about these girls, people should know that.
“Also, for the over two years that we have been with these girls, about
40 of them are married, some are dead as a result of airstrike by
infidels.
We will show you a video of how your own aircraft dropped a bomb that
killed some of these girls. Some of the girls have suffered fractures
and other forms of injuries as a result of the air strikes.” Continuing
he said: “As you can see, these are the girls, all we want is for you to
release our brethren otherwise you will never get these girls God
willing. This, in short, is our message to the Federal Government and
the parents of the Chibok Girls. ”
As long as the government does not release our people, we will also
never release these girls, that is our message. I specially inform our
people in captivity in Lagos that they should be patient and continue
with their prayers,God will take us to where no one expects and we will
rescue them; all those in Lagos, Maiduguri and other southern parts of
the country. Keep praying, very soon, we will rescue you.”
The gunman then called a girl out and interrogated her. Sect
commander: What is your name? Girl: My name is Maida Yakubu Sect
commander: Where are you from? Girl: I am from Chibok town Sect
commander:
Where were you picked from? Girl: School Sect commander: What is the
name of the school? Girl: GSS Chibok Sect commander: For how long have
you been here? Girl: About two years Sect commander: What message do you
have for your parents and the Federal Government of Nigeria? Girl: “Our
parents, please exercise patience. We are suffering here.
There is no kind of suffering we haven’t seen. Our sisters are
injured; some have wounds on their heads and bodies. “Tell the
government to give them their people so we can also come to be with you.
We are all children and we don’t know what to do.
The suffering is too much, please endeavour as we also have exercised
patience.“There is nothing you, or we, can do about this, but to get
their people back to them, so we can go home. Exercise patience as we
also have endured.”
The sect commander took over and continued: “Let me conclude this
message by saying that many people have been coming to us lying that
they were sent by the Nigerian government to get the girls released.
“Let the government and the whole world know that we have not sent
anyone to negotiate with the government on our behalf over these girls.
We have dealt with you in the past before and you know our recommended
negotiators.
“If you need to, you should talk to them. We don’t use our own people
to negotiate with you, we use your own people such as journalists to
talk with you. We have not sent any other persons.
You know that we prefer to use journalists known to you. “Let me say
again, release our people and we release your girls, otherwise, they
will never be released. If you think you have the power to come and
rescue them, go ahead and try. “President Buhari, your Army has been
lying to you that they have finished us, let them try and see if they
can rescue these girls alive.”
In Abuja, Maida’s mother, Mrs. Esther Yakubu, watched the video along
with her husband at the weekly rally of the Bring Back Our Girls
campaign at Unity Fountain. But, the Federal Government yesterday
reiterated its determination to rescue the girls.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in a
statement, said the government was being careful in its rescue
operation, in order not to harm the abducted girls in the process. The
minister said that the government was in touch with those purportedly
behind the video.
The minister, in a statement by his Special Adviser, Mr. Segun
Adeyemi, said: “We are on top of the situation. But we are being
extremely careful because the situation has been compounded by the split
in the leadership of Boko Haram.
We are also being guided by the need to ensure the safety of the
girls. ”Since this is not the first time we have been contacted over the
issue, we want to be doubly sure that those we are in touch with are
who they claim to be,” Mohammed expressed the hope that the latest
development will signal the beginning of the end of the nightmare to
which the girls, their families and, indeed, all Nigerians have been
subjected since the unfortunate abduction.
In the same light, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has said it had
begun a probe of the video, which will include an analysis of the voice
of the fighter.
The DHQ, in a statement by its spokesman, Brig.-Gen. Rabe Abubakar,
said: “Currently we are studying the video clips to verify its
authenticity and analysing the comments of the speakers in the video,
especially the terrorist member and the girl that spoke in mother
tongue.
“It is extremely difficult and rare to hit innocent people during
airstrike because the operation is done through precision attack on
identified and registered targets and locations. “The precision
airstrike is very effective at taking out targeted enemies because it is
not a random operation.
We are, nevertheless, studying the video clips to examine if the
victims died from other causes rather than from the allegation of
airstrike.” It will be recalled that less than two weeks ago, Boko
Haram’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, had appeared in a video, where he
threatened to attack President Muhammadu Buhari.
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