Members of the Boko Haram sect have renewed their clamour for a tradeoff with the Federal Government to free the abducted students of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok in Borno State.
A member of the group, who identifies himself as a teacher and scholar in Boko Haram camp, said the sect leader, Abubakar Shekau was ready to free the girls once the Federal Government releases insurgents in prison custody across the country.
Speaking with British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC World Radio Service, the Boko Haram leader, whose name was not mentioned, declared that “anything short of this condition may be dangerous to the lives of the over 200 schoolgirls in our custody.”
Below is the text of the man’s speech on the BBC:
“Yes, we want the Nigerian government to release our members. As our leader, Abubakar Shekau promised to the media, if today the government releases our members, tomorrow or the next day we promise you can see all of them (the girls). We would release them tomorrow or the next day.
“I am telling you a fact, they (girls) are in a state of amnesty. They don’t have a problem. Some of them have believed in Islam, some of them say they would not convert to Islam but we didn’t differentiate them, we treated them equally. They are healthy, feeding and all. We didn’t differentiate between them at all, because, Allah commands us to treat them equally. Some of them say they would not come back to Islam, we asked them to stay, no problem. There is no forcing in Islam but some of them who are not Muslims are converting to Islam but we are not differentiating them. If you see them now, you would see that they don’t have any problem.
“Under Islam, killing children and women is not accepted you understand, but if they are fighting you, then you must fight them but if they are not fighting you, then it is not accepted whether they are Muslims or non-Muslims. Do not fight them, it is not accepted but if you bomb somewhere or make arrests somewhere, it will affect them but killing children and women is not accepted,” he stated.
Sect claims responsibility for Abuja, Lagos blasts
Meanwhile, leader of Boko Haram sect, Abubakar Shekau, has said his group masterminded and executed the bomb attack on Emab shopping mall in Abuja on June 25, 2014.
Shekau also claimed responsibility on another attack the same day at a fuel depot in Lagos.
He made the claims in a new video relayed by Agence French Presse, AFP, yesterday.
Nigerian Pilot recalls that an explosion rocked Emab Plaza in Abuja, which left 21 people dead.
Similarly, a tank farm in Apapa, Lagos was bombed on the same day.
The Lagos blast was an industrial accident.
Shekau also described Abuja as a filthy city in the said video.
Ex-militants vow to expose sponsors
Also yesterday, some ex-militant leaders in Ondo State, under the third phase of Amnesty Programme, vowed to expose leaders behind the incessant bombings and attacks by Boko Haram.
The ex-agitators warned some northern leaders that rather than attacking the person of President Goodluck Jonathan for the activities of the terrorists, Nigerians should seek to know the role they played in the emergence of Boko Haram in the country.
Speaking at the end of a state-of-the-nation meeting by the ex-warlords in the Niger Delta in Ore town, Odigbo Local Govern Area of Ondo State at the weekend, they said they were ready to expose every northern leader behind the Boko Haram sect.
Leader of the group, Boro Opukutu, who read the resolutions of the meeting to newsmen, said the ex-agitators in the Niger Delta were ready to protect their kinsman (President Jonathan) against his detractors and the enemies of his administration.
Pakistani girl begs for Chibok students
Pakistani girl-child education campaigner, Malala Yousafzai, who survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban, has called on Boko Haram to free the abducted Chibok schoolgirls.
Malala, who commenced a three-day visit to Nigeria on Saturday, celebrated her 17th birthday in Abuja at a dinner held in her honour at Transcorp Hilton Hotel, stressing that: “On my 17th birthday my wish is to see every child go to school and I want to see my Nigerian sisters being released from their abduction and I want them to be free to go to school and continue their education”.
Malala was accompanied to the dinner by her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai and members of Malala Fund, including Shiza Shahid, the 25-year-old founder of the organisation.
Nigerian Pilot gathered that during Malala’s three-day visit to Nigeria, she will meet President Jonathan and other top government officials.
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Chibok girls: Insurgents renew demand for prisoners’ swap
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