Chibok girls in video: We’re hungry, suffering

A new video of the Chibok kidnapped schoolgirls shows them speaking about their true ordeal for the first time, saying they are suffering and are not getting enough food, a report said yesterday.The report by British newspaper Mail on Sunday said the footage, which has not been released publicly but seen by the newspaper, was […]

A new video of the Chibok kidnapped schoolgirls shows them speaking about their true ordeal for the first time, saying they are suffering and are not getting enough food, a report said yesterday.
The report by British newspaper Mail on Sunday said the footage, which has not been released publicly but seen by the newspaper, was taken in a jungle clearing a month after the abduction.
It shows the girls, who were abducted by Boko Haram gunmen on April 14, “bravely speaking out about their ordeal,” according to the report.
Daily Trust has not seen the clip and has no way of confirming its authenticity.
According to the Mail on Sunday, in the video, eight girls, dressed in their 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,” the report said.
“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.’”
The newspaper report said the girls in the footage look healthy, but several others have fallen ill, including one with a broken wrist.
It said the video, taken by an intermediary on May 19, has been shown to President Goodluck Jonathan to serve as ‘proof of life’ for the girls and to encourage the President to accede to the sect’s demands.
But when Daily Trust asked if the president had indeed seen this video, Special Duties Minister Kabiru Turaki simply said in a text message yesterday: “I am not aware.” Mr. Turaki is heading the government’s team that is pursuing dialogue with the Boko Haram sect.
Presidential spokesman Reuben Abati did not return telephone calls and a text message.
An earlier video released by Boko Haram on May 12 showed about 130 of the girls seated on the ground, dressed in hijabs, reciting the verses of the Quran.
The same video showed Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau offering to swap the schoolgirls for detained sect members.
But the Federal Government has repeatedly said it would not accede to this demand.
Last week Chief of Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh said the government knew the location of the girls but that there would be no military action to free them because of fears for their safety.
He refused to divulge details, saying it would put the girls in further danger.
Sources said Mr Badeh’s announcement may have been the result of government officials seeing the new video, according to the Mail on Sunday.
The report said 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.”
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.”