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Boko Haram Videos of Purported Chibok Girl, Threat to Bomb Nigerian Capital | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Some of the Chibok schoolgirls released by Boko Haram in October look on during their visit to meet President Muhammadu Buhari In Abuja, Nigeria. Photo: Reuters


Boko Haram late on Friday released a video claiming to show the Chibok schoolgirls who refused to be rescued as part of a recent swap deal with the Nigerian government as another video of a man purporting to be a militant said the group plans to bomb Nigeria’s capital, Abuja.

In the first three-minute video, a woman who claims to be Maida Yakubu, one of the schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram in April 2014, is seen wearing a black veil and holding a gun.

Flanked by three other women clad in black, she proclaims her loyalty to Boko Haram.

When asked by a man in the background why she doesn’t want to go back home to her parents, she replies: “the reason is that they live in the town of unbelief. We want them to accept Islam.”

The woman then speaks in the local Chibok dialect for the rest of the video.

Last week, about 82 schoolgirls who were kidnapped three years ago were released after negotiations between the terrorist group and the government.

Presidency spokesman Garba Shehu later disclosed that one girl had refused to leave.

Analysts said it was likely others may have been radicalized and developed sympathies for their captors over time.

The militants seized 276 girls in April 2014. Fifty-seven escaped in the immediate aftermath. Of the 219 who did not manage to flee, 106 have either been released or found, leaving 113 still missing.

The second video released by Boko Haram, claimed to show five commanders that the Nigerian government freed in the recent swap.

In the video, a man holding a rifle and identifying himself as Abu Dardaa, or Money, says Boko Haram is preparing to bomb Abuja. He was flanked by the four other armed men.

The threat comes as Nigeria opened another round of talks for the release of more kidnapped schoolgirls.

Nigeria’s state security agency, the Department of State Services (DSS), in April said it had thwarted plans by Boko Haram militants linked to ISIS to attack the British and US embassies in Abuja.