Islamist militant group Boko Haram said they abducted more than 200 girls last month in northeast Nigeria, and they “will sell them in the market, by Allah.”
Two hundred and seventy-six girls were kidnapped three weeks ago from their boarding school in Chibok, Borno. Fifty-three girls escaped from the Islamists, but 223 remained in captivity on Friday.
Boko Haram’s leader Abubakar Shekau said, “I abducted your girls” in an hour-long video released Monday.
In the video, Shekau denounced democracy, Western education, and efforts for Muslims and Christians to live in peace.
“I will repeat this: Western education should fold up. I abducted your girls,” he said. ”I will sell them in the market, by Allah.”
Bangkok Post found unconfirmed reports from leaders in Chibok that the girls were taken to Chad and Cameroon and sold as brides for as little as $12.
Protesters in Nigeria are angered over government inaction. Nigeria’s first lady Patience Jonathan allegedly ordered police to arrest two protest leaders, and publicly doubted that any girls were kidnapped.