Boko Haram Archives

Nigeria – Kidnapped Girls Found, But Not Rescued

The Guardian is reporting that Nigeria’s military knows where the more than 200 girls abducted by Boko Haram are but has ruled out using force to rescue them, the state news agency quoted chief of defence staff Air Marshal Alex Badeh as saying on Monday.

Seven weeks since Boko Haram militants abducted more than 200 girls taking exams in a secondary school in the remote northeastern village of Chibok and little is known of their whereabouts or what exactly the military is doing to get them out.

“The good news for the parents of the girls is that we know where they are, but we cannot tell you,” Badeh was quoted as saying. “But where they are held, can we go there with force? We can’t kill our girls in the name of trying to get them back.”

Most officials think any raid to rescue them would be fraught with danger and probably not worth the risk that the girls would be killed by their captors – an Islamist group that has shown a degree of ruthlessness in killing civilians.

Boko Haram Wants Their Imprisoned “Brothers” Released Before Kidnapped Girls Go Free

The leader of the terrorist group Boko Haram, that kidnapped over 200 Nigeria school girls has released a video on YouTube saying they will release the girls if their impresioned “brothers” are released.
In a 1.25 minute clip of the video on YouTube, scores of girls in black and grey veils sit on the ground and chant, before Shekau, wearing military fatigues and holding an AK-47, addresses the camera. He appears confident and at one point laughs.

“All I am saying is that if you want us to release the girls that we have kidnapped, those who have not accepted Islam will be treated as the Prophet (Mohammed) treated infidels and they will stay with us,” he said, according to a translation of his words originally spoken in a Nigerian language.

“We will not release them while you detain our brothers,” he said, before naming a series of cities in Nigeria. It was not clear whether he was in the same location as the girls.

There was no immediate reaction from authorities to the new video but one senior official said the government was studying the situation.