Boko Haram Video Revives Hopes of Nigerian Schoolgirls Being Alive

The footage, that may have been filmed in December, shows 15 girls in black chadors identifying themselves.

This undated image taken from video distributed Sunday, 14 August 2016. (Photo: AP)

An exclusive video showing a few of the 219 Nigerian school girls abducted by Boko Haram has boosted hopes of the girls being alive.

CNN obtained footage that may have been filmed in December, showing 15 girls in black chadors identifying themselves.

After the video emerged, the BBC spoke to the parents of the abducted girls. Friends and family members of Nigerian schoolgirls have identified some of them.

We want to send this message first to the parents of these girls for them to know that these girls are still with us, some of them, and secondly they should tell the Federal Government of Nigeria, to with immediate effect, release our imprisoned brothers. Some of the girls, about forty of them with God’s permission have been married, some of them have died as a result of bombing by the infidels.

Masked Man in Video

In the video, one veiled girl could be seen holding a baby. Parents have accused Boko Haram of having married off some of the girls against their will. At the end of the video unidentified bodies could be seen on the ground.

On the first anniversary of their kidnapping on Tuesday, 14 April 2015, a placard asks for help from the Nigerian government to find the 219 missing girls (Photo: AP)

As many as 276 girls were abducted from a school in the town of Chibok by the Islamist group Boko Haram in 2014. A few of them managed to escape as the militants transported them to a forest.

The girls became the focus of a global campaign soon after their abduction. US First Lady Michelle Obama had said she was “outraged and heartbroken” about the kidnapping and also posted a picture of herself holding a sign reading “#BringBackOurGirls” on her official Twitter account in May 2014.

The footage of the girls is the first to be seen since May 2014, when around 100 of them were shown in a video. It was broadcast after being handed to the Nigerian government. Despite efforts, most of the girls are still missing.

A solemn march was held in 2015 to remember the 219 girls. In Nigeria’s capital of Abuja, 219 girls paraded in the streets, with each carrying a placard bearing the name of a kidnap victim.

We believe the girls are still alive. 

Allan Manasseh, Brother of Missing Girl, Maryamu Wavi

Esther Yakubu, left, mother of one of the kidnapped school girls, watches the video released by Boko Haramduring a briefing in Abuja, Nigeria. (Photo: AP)

“Military jets have killed some of the girls,” said one of the girls, who was identified by her father, Yakubu Kabu, as his daughter called Dorcas. “When I heard her voice, I realise she is my daughter,” he told reporters in Abuja. “we are pleading with the government to help...The children are suffering. Some of them could be very sick.”

Esther Yakubu reacts after she saw her daughter in the video release by Boko Haram during a briefing in Abuja, Nigeria. (Photo: AP)

Information Minister Lai Mohammed said in a statement the government “was on top of the situation” to free 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.

Lai Mohammed, Information Minister

Army spokesman Rabe Abubakar was quoted as saying by PR Nigeria, an official government agency, that the military disputed the claims that the air force had hit the girls.

We are nevertheless studying the video clips to examine if the victims died from other causes rather (than) from the allegation of airstrike.

Rabe Abubakar, Army Spokesperson

Authorities said in May that one of the missing girls had been found and President Muhammadu Buhari vowed to rescue the others. Boko Haram, which last year pledged loyalty to the militant group Islamic State, has kidnapped hundreds of men, women and children. The outfit has apparently split with Islamic State naming Abu Musab al-Barnawi two weeks ago as the group’s leader for West Africa in a two-page interview in its weekly magazine.

(Witn inputs from BBC, CNN and Reuters.)