Boko Haram 'to sell' Nigeria girls abducted from Chibok

Militant leader Abubakar Shekau sent a video obtained by the AFP news agency, in which he said for the first time that his group had taken the girls.

About 230 girls are still believed to be missing, prompting widespread criticism of the Nigerian government.

The Boko Haram insurgency has left thousands dead since 2009.
The girls were taken from their school in Chibok, in the northern state of Borno, on the night of 14 April.

Boko Haram, which means "Western education is forbidden" has staged numerous previous attacks on educational institutions in northern Nigeria.

In the video, Abubakar Shekau said the girls should not have been in school in the first place, but rather should get married.

"God instructed me to sell them, they are his properties and I will carry out his instructions," he said.
However, BBC Hausa Service editor Mansur Liman points out that the Boko Haram leader did not state the number of girls abducted, nor where they were taken or are now.

Assurances from President Goodluck Jonathan have done little to convince Nigerians of the government's commitment to freeing the girls, says our editor, in the capital Abuja.

Meanwhile, a woman who helped organise protests over the abduction has been detained, her fellow community leaders say.

Naomi Mutah took part in a meeting called by First Lady Patience Jonathan and was then taken to a police station, they say.

Mrs Jonathan reportedly felt slighted that the mothers of the abducted girls had sent Ms Mutah to the meeting instead of going themselves.

Analysts say Mrs Jonathan is a politically powerful figure in Nigeria.

Ms Mutah, a representative of the Chibok community where the girls were seized from their school, last week organised a protest outside parliament in the capital, Abuja.

The protesters, and many Nigerians, feel the government has not done enough to find the girls.
They were in their final year of school, most of them aged 16 to 18.

Pogo Bitrus, another Chibok community leader, told the BBC he had been to the Asokoro police station where Ms Mutah is reported to have been taken but could find no written record of her being there.

He described the detention as "unfortunate" and "insensitive", adding that he hoped Mrs Jonathan would soon "realise her mistake".
Mr Bitrus noted that Mrs Jonathan has no constitutional power to order arrests.

The AP news agency quotes another community leader, Saratu Angus Ndirpaya, as saying that Mrs Jonathan accused the activists of fabricating the abductions to give the government a bad name.
She also said the First Lady accused them of supporting Boko Haram.

In a TV broadcast on Sunday, his first comment on the abductions, President Jonathan said he did not know where the girls were but everything was being done to find them.

Labels: Islamism, Nigeria, Sexual Predation, Terrorism

posted by Pieface @ Monday, May 05, 2014