Video appears to show some of Nigeria’s kidnapped girls alive

Jane Onyanga-Omara, USA TODAY  |  A video released Wednesday appears to show some of the Nigerian schoolgirls who were kidnapped by the Boko Haram militant group two years ago alive.

The video, obtained by CNN, was sent to negotiators by the Islamist militants as proof that the girls were alive, according to the broadcaster.

CNN showed the video, which is believed to have been made in December, to Rifkatu Ayuba, whose 17-year-old daughter Saratu was among those taken.

“My Saratu!” she cried. “I felt like removing her from the screen,” she added. “If I could, I would have removed her from the screen.”

Nigerian Information Minister Lai Mohammed told CNN the government was reviewing the video.

Boko Haram kidnapped 276 girls from their school in Chibok, northeastern Nigeria, on the night of April 14, 2014. A number later escaped the militants, but 219 remain missing, prompting the launch of the “Bring Back Our Girls” campaign, which captured the world’s attention.

Amnesty International said its activists were joining demonstrations in the Nigerian capital of Abuja on Thursday to call for the return of the girls, and thousands of other people abducted by Boko Haram. Last week, the Nigerian military said its soldiers rescued 11,595 civilians from the militants since Feb. 26.

“Few of us can begin to comprehend the suffering of parents who have not seen their daughters for two years,” said M.K. Ibrahim, director of Amnesty International Nigeria.

“In addition to the Chibok schoolgirls, today we also remember all those abducted, killed and displaced. Two years on, the Chibok girls have come to symbolize all the civilians whose lives have been devastated by Boko Haram.”

Ibrahim called on the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to do more to bring back the girls, protect civilians in northeastern Nigeria and ensure that children in the region can go to school.

“Those guilty of inflicting this unspeakable suffering must be brought to justice, once and for all,” he said.

Boko Haram, whose attacks on schools have forced thousands out of education, loosely translates as “Western education is forbidden” in the Hausa language that is spoken by millions of people in Nigeria and neighboring Niger.