The Islamist militant group Boko Haram claimed responsibility Monday for kidnapping more than 200 schoolgirls during a raid in northeast Nigeria three weeks ago, according to a video obtained by Agence France-Presse.
Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau reportedly vowed, “I abducted your girls. I will sell them in the market, by Allah.”
The threat comes after earlier reports that the young hostages were being forced to marry their Islamist captors.
On April 15, Boko Haram gunmen rampaged and torched the Chibok Girls Secondary School in Borno state. Some 220 girls aged 16 to 18 remain missing.
Parents said the girls are being sold to militants for 2,000 naira ($12), Halite Aliyu of the Borno-Yobe People’s Forum told The Associated Press.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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