Manned US aircraft were flying over Nigeria yesterday, searching for more than 200 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram after Abuja dismissed a prisoner-swap offer from the Islamist extremist group.
“We have shared commercial satellite imagery with the Nigerians and are flying manned ISR [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance] assets over Nigeria with the government’s permission,” a senior US official said on Monday.
The official declined to be named and it was not immediately clear what kind of aircraft were being deployed, nor where they are based.
Photo: AFP / BOKO HARAM
In a video obtained by media on Monday, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau said the girls would only be released if Abuja frees militant fighters it has in custody.
Shekau made the claim in a 27-minute video, which apparently shows about 130 of the teenagers snatched from their school in Chibok nearly a month ago.
The video shows the girls in black and gray full-length hijabs, sitting on scrubland near trees.
Three of them are shown being interviewed, with two saying that they have converted from Christianity to Islam and another saying she is Muslim. All three pronounced their belief in Islam dispassionately to the camera, sometimes looking down and seeming to be under duress.
Most of the group behind them were seated cross-legged on the ground. The girls appeared calm and one said they had not been harmed.
Speaking in his native Hausa language as well as Arabic, Shekau restated his claim of responsibility for the kidnappings and said the girls were converting to Islam.
“These girls, these girls you occupy yourselves with ... we have indeed liberated them. These girls have become Muslims,” he said. “There are still others who have not converted and are holding on to your belief. There are many of them. Only Allah knows how many women we are holding, the infidels who Allah commands us to hold.”
“We will never release them [the girls] until after you release our brethren,” the militant leader added.
Asked if the government would reject Shekau’s proposal, Nigerian Minister of the Interior Abba Moro yesterday responded: “Of course.”
The mother of one of the abductees identified her daughter in the video, said Dumoma Mpur, parent-teachers association chairman at the Government Girls’ Secondary School in Chibok that the girls were taken from.
The mother watched the video on TV on Monday evening and saw her daughter among the girls sitting on the ground wearing veils.
A total of 276 students were abducted on April 14 from Chibok and police say 223 are still missing.
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