Three Abducted Girls Dead, Eighteen Others Now Sick – Channel 4 News
The jihadis who kidnapped more than
200 Nigerian schoolgirls two weeks ago say they are “willing to
consider” the release of those who have not already been trafficked
abroad and sold into marriage.
The girls’ abductors, who have been in regular direct contact with a government intermediary,
also report that three of their teenaged captives have died – although
they did not state how this happened. Eighteen others, they say, are now
sick.
The intermediary told Channel 4 News that
the al-Qaeda-affiliated group, Boko Haram, has threatened to kill the
remaining hostages if there is any attempt by the Nigerian military to
rescue the girls. Meanwhile in the capital Abuja, the Nigerian
government is coming under intense public pressure to secure the girls’
release.
On Wednesday, the government admitted for the first time that it had officially engaged the services of the negotiator.
It declined to reveal his identity. He has told Channel 4 News that he
wishes to remain anonymous for reasons of personal security.
The intermediary has, however, been in
regular, direct contact with senior members of the Islamist insurgent
group who claim to be holding the girls, for several days now. He has
maintained links with Boko Haram for nearly a decade and has
successfully negotiated past hostage releases.
It is not clear how many of the 220
teenagers remain in Nigeria, following reports that they had been split
into smaller groups and some moved into neighbouring Chad and Cameroon
and sold for a bride-price of less than £10 each, following their
forcible conversion to Islam.
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