Some girls wearing headscarves, in the video, were seen behind a Boko Haram militant who demanded the release of fighters in return for freeing the girls.
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“They should know that their children are still in our hands”, says a man whose face was covered by a turban in the video posted on YouTube on Sunday.
Ahmad Salkida The army has declared Ahmad Salkida, the Nigerian journalist known to have access to access to top Boko Haram commanders, wanted.
Some 218 of the 276 schoolgirls abducted in April 2016 are still missing despite President Muhammadu Buhari’s claims that the group is “technically defeated”.
In the video published on social media, which was seen by Reuters on Sunday, a masked man stands behind dozens of girls. The group claims their deaths were the result of a military airstrike – though the military disputed that claim.
The anonymous Boko Haram member says on the video that they’ve married off 40 of the Chibok girls, and that some were killed during government airstrikes. The wire service added that “Nigeria’s Air Force has reported near-daily bombardments of Boko Haram camps and the military of increased ground assaults in which they have freed thousands of captives, though none of the Chibok girls”.
The government came under increased pressure from parents and the Bring Back Our Girls campaigners after the May escape of one young woman, a proof of life that they said should encourage the military and government to redouble efforts to rescue the girls.
The soldier focused on one of the girls so she could verify her identity to the cameras.
‘This focuses on using the girls as a bargaining chip, ‘ he told AFP.
The video goes on to show bodies from an alleged air raid, including that of a girl whose eyes flicker open briefly.
According to CNN, the video speaks to the internal crisis among Boko Haram leadership since ISIS has instituted a new leader.
Nigerien soldiers hold up a Boko Haram flag. “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”, Information Minister Lai Mohammed said in a statement.
ISWAP claimed last month that leader Abubakar Shekau had been replaced as leader by their candidate Abu Musab al-Barnawi.
Boko Haram pledged allegiance to IS in March previous year.
Sani, a former negotiator and mediator with Boko Haram, added that it was hard for the Nigerian government to negotiate with Boko Haram for the release of the girls as “there is a lack of trust on both sides”.
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Under Buhari’s command and aided by Nigeria’s neighbours, the army has recaptured most territory once lost to Boko Haram, but the group still regularly stages suicide bombings.
