Dressed in hijabs and reading from the Qur’an, about 130 girls are featured in the clip where Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau is also shown explaining the possible terms of release for his captives. He never appears in the same shot as the girls.
According to Al Jazeera, Shekau speaks for nearly 17 minutes in the clip obtained by the French news agency AFP. Three girls are interviewed during the video; two of them say they were Christian but have converted to Islam. Each of them appear calm and one says “they had not been harmed.”
Regarding the prisoner-hostage exchange, ABC News reports that that route is “very tricky” for the Nigerian government. Releasing men who might repeat this atrocity isn’t so appealing.
Still, nearly 300 Nigerian school girls remain missing. Families are inconsolable. On the international side, the United States, Britain, France, China and Israel have contributed special forces to the search for the girls.
Image via Sky News.