Today is the second year anniversary of the abduction of 219 senior secondary school girls from their school hostel in Chibok, Bormo st...
Today is the second year anniversary of the abduction of 219 senior secondary school girls from their school hostel in Chibok, Bormo state by the Boko haram terrorists.
As many people mourn the loss of the girls who are still missing and wonder about their state of health; whether they are still alive or not, whether hey would ever return - a new video obtained by CNN has re-ignited the hope that the girls (or some of them) are still alive.
See more after the cut:
The video, titled "proof of life" was obtained from one of the people involved in the negotiation deal with the terrorist sect. In the video, fifteen girls, all wearing hijab, are seen. One of the girls who was chosen to talk for others said that although they were being treated well, the government should negotiate with Boko haram as they want to return home.
A male commentator who spoke off camera announced that the video was shot sometime around christmas last year. If this is true, this would be the second ever video of the girls since 2014.
The video was shown to parents and relatives of the Kidnapped girls by community leaders and two of the girls in the video was identified by their mothers.
According to Reuters, the mothers Rifkatu Ayuba and Mary Ishaya said
they recognised their daughters, Saratu and Hauwa, in the video, while a
third mother, Yana Galang, identified five of the missing girls.
Rifkatu Ayuba who was beyond elated to see her 17 year old daughter Saratu for the first time in 2 years, after the video was shown to her, exclaimed, “My Saratu! I felt like removing her from the screen. If I could, I would have removed her from the screen.”
After the screening, one of the local officials told Reuters, “They were definitely our daughters … all we want is for the government
to bring back our girls. We only heard a man’s voice and saw his finger
pointing at the girls one after the other.”
A source close to negotiations between Boko Haram and the Nigerian govt
said the video was provided by the terror group as an act of good faith.
Meanwhile, the Bring Back Our Girls Campaign Group has planned a series of marches and programmes to mark the second year anniversary of the Chibok girls' kidnap today.
