The
footage, not released publicly but seen by The Mail on Sunday, was
taken in a jungle clearing a month after their abduction.
More
than 250 girls were taken in a raid on their school in Chibok, in
Nigeria’s north-east, on April 14 by Boko Haram terrorists, who want to
impose Sharia law on the country.
The 250 girls are being held by Islamic group Boko Haram after they were abducted from Chibok, in north eastern Nigeria
The
girls in the video look healthy, but it is understood that fraught
negotiations are under way to broker the release several pupils who have
fallen ill, including one with a broken wrist.
In
the video, eight girls, dressed in their home-made school uniforms of
pale blue gingham, plead for release as they stand courageously in front
of the camera. They are clearly scared, upset and trying to be brave.
Each of them walks in turn to a spot in front of a white sheet fixed to a crude frame between the trees.
Four
of them can be heard clearly, in their Hausa language, stating that
they were taken by force and that they are hungry. A tall girl, aged
about 18, says tearfully: ‘My family will be so worried.’
Another,
speaking softly, says: ‘I never expected to suffer like this in my
life.’ A third says: ‘They have taken us away by force.’ The fourth girl
complains: ‘We are not getting enough food.’
Terror leader Abubakar Shekau released a video of the kidnapped girls praying after their conversion to Islam
The
video, taken by an intermediary on May 19, has been shown to President
Goodluck Jonathan. It was intended to serve as ‘proof of life’ for the
girls and to encourage the President to accede to the terrorists’
demands.
Two
earlier videos showed the girls seated on the ground, dressed in
hijabs, reciting the Koran, and Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau
declaring he would sell them into slavery, or marry them off to their
kidnappers, if members of his sect were not released from prison.
Pressure
from the international community and criticism of the President’s slow
response to the kidnapping have led to a series of contradictory
pronouncements from his government. Ministers have declared they will
not negotiate with Boko Haram, or consider the release of prisoners,
while official spokesmen have said ‘the window is always open for
dialogue’.
Deborah Peter told US congress members how Boko
Haram killed her family in 2011 and called for the release of the
kidnapped girls
At
a Paris peace summit, several West African countries neighbouring
Nigeria vowed to join in ‘outright war’ against the terrorists. Britain,
France and America pledged their support and have sent teams of
military experts and advisers to the region. Intelligence sources have
told the MoS of several rescue attempts, one involving the release of
suspected low-level Boko Haram members detained without charges or
trial.
Two
attempts were aborted at the last minute when the terrorists took
fright while delivering a group of girls to a safe location.
Last
week Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Alex Badeh said the government knew
the location of the girls and claimed that police and military had been
‘following them’ since the abduction. He refused to divulge details,
saying it would put the girls in further danger.
Martha Mark holds up a photograph of her daughter Monica who is one of the girls kidnapped by Boko Haram
Sources
said Mr Badeh’s announcement may have been the result of government
officials seeing the new, unpublished video. They may have been able to
persuade Boko Haram’s intermediary to provide details of the location.
It is believed the hostages have been split into at least four groups.
Dr
Stephen Davis, an Australian who has advised three Nigerian presidents
on how to negotiate with the country’s militant groups, has spent the
past month trying to help free the girls.
‘The vast majority of the Chibok girls are not being held in Nigeria,’ he said.
‘They
are in camps across the Nigerian border in Cameroon, Chad and Niger. I
say the “vast majority” as I know a small group was confirmed to me to
be in Nigeria last week when we sought to have them released.’
The Nigerian government has been engaged in
negotiations with Boko Haram's spiritual leader Abubakar Shekau in a bid
to secure the girls' release
He described how fraught the negotiation process has been.
‘One
of that small group of girls is ill and we had hoped we might convince
the commander of the group holding her that she should be released so we
could give her medical treatment,’ Dr Davis said.
‘There
are other girls who are not well and we have come close to having them
released but their captors fear a trap in which they will be captured
in the handover process.
‘One
girl has what I assume is a broken wrist as they demonstrate to me how
she holds her hand. I have been told that others are sick and in need of
medical attention.’
A
military source said: ‘This has been a race against time from the
minute they were captured. As soon as the girls left Nigerian soil it
was always going to be more difficult.
‘The government made no attempt at a rescue until a month after they were taken. Now the situation gets more serious by the day.
‘Any sort of attempt to get to them would have to be cleared by the governments of the other nations.’
The heavily armed terror group have moved the girls to a 'safe location'
Scathing
condemnations of Nigeria’s failure to address the menace of Boko Haram,
ever since a proposed peace deal failed last August – leading to the
extension of a state of emergency in three northern states – continued
worldwide last week.
US
Senator Robert Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, said Nigeria had been ‘tragically and unacceptably slow’ to
begin a search.
Others
say the clock really being watched by Nigerian politicians is not the
six weeks and counting since the kidnap but the 11 months to the
country’s elections.
Opposition politician Nuhu Ribadu has accused the government of ‘total failure’.
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