I never expected to suffer like this in my life, kidnapped girl tells video
A NEW video of the Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by Islamic extremists shows them bravely speaking out about their ordeal for the first time.
The footage, not released publicly but seen by the Irish Mail on Sunday, was taken in a jungle clearing a month after their abduction.
More than 250 girls were taken in a raid on their school in Chibok, in Nigeria’s northeast, on April 14 by Boko Haram terrorists, who believe girls should not be educated.
The girls in the video look healthy but it is understood that negotiations are under way to broker the release of several pupils who have fallen ill, including one with a broken wrist.
In the video, eight girls, dressed in their home-made school uniforms of pale blue gingham, plead for release. They are clearly scared, upset and trying to be brave. Each walks in turn to a spot in front of a white sheet fixed to a crude frame between the trees.
Four of them can be heard, in their Hausa language, stating that they were taken by force and that they are hungry. A tall girl, aged about 18, says tearfully: ‘My family will be so worried.’
Another, speaking softly, says: ‘I never expected to suffer like this in my life.’ A third says: ‘They have taken us away by force.’ The fourth girl complains: ‘We are not getting enough food.’
The video, taken by an intermediary on May 19, has been shown to President Goodluck Jonathan. It was intended to serve as ‘proof of life’ for the girls and to encourage the president to accede to the terrorists’ demands for the release of Boko Haram prisoners.
Pressure from the international community and criticism of the president’s slow response have led to contradictory pronouncements. Ministers have declared they will not negotiate with Boko Haram, while official spokesmen have said ‘the window is always open for dialogue’. At a Paris peace summit, neighbouring countries vowed to join in ‘outright war’ against the terrorists.