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BOKO HARAM RELEASED a new video today claiming to show the missing Nigerian schoolgirls alleging the teenagers had converted to Islam and would not be released until all militant prisoners were freed.
The group’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, speaks on the video obtained by AFP for 17 minutes before showing what he said were the girls in Muslim dress and praying in an undisclosed rural location.
A total of 276 girls were abducted on April 14 from the northeastern town of Chibok, in Borno state, which has a sizeable Christian community. Some 223 are still missing.
The footage shows about 130 girls in black and grey full-length hijabs sitting on scrubland near trees, reciting the first chapter of the Muslim holy book, the Koran, and holding their palms upwards in prayer.
Three of the girls are interviewed. Two say they were Christian and had converted while one said she was Muslim.
Most of the group were seated. The girls appeared calm and one said that they had not been harmed.
There was no indication of when the video was taken, although the quality is better than on previous occasions and at one point an armed man is seen in shot with a hand-held video camera.
Attacks
Boko Haram has been waging an increasingly deadly insurgency in Nigeria’s mainly Muslim north since 2009, attacking schools teaching a “Western” curriculum, churches and government targets.
Civilians, though, have borne the brunt of recent violence, with more than 1,500 killed this year alone while tens of thousands have been displaced after their homes and businesses were razed.
Nigeria’s government has been criticised for its lack of immediate response to the kidnapping but has been forced to act after Shekau threatened to sell the girls as slaves.
President Goodluck Jonathan has now accepted help from the United States, Britain, France, China and Israel, which have sent specialist teams to help in the search effort.
In the video, Shekau appears in front of a lime green canvas backdrop wearing combat fatigues and carrying an automatic weapon.
Shekau does not appear in the same shot as the girls at any point during the 27-minute video.
Speaking in Hausa and Arabic, he restates his claim of responsibility made in a video released last Monday and said the girls had converted to Islam.
These girls, these girls you occupy yourselves with… we have indeed liberated them. We have indeed liberated them. Do you know we have liberated them? These girls have become Muslims.
The militant leader said that Boko Haram’s brothers in arms had been held in prison for up to five years and suggested that the girls would be released if the fighters were freed.
“We will never release them until after you release our brethren. Here I mean those girls who have not submitted (converted to Islam),” he added.
Boko Haram has used kidnapping of women and young girls in the past and Shekau indicated that more were being held.
Eleven girls were abducted from the Gwoza area of Borno state on May 4.
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School girls converted to Islam……religion has a lot to answer for.
If there is a God I hope he/she is not as sick as these bast@rds.
Have these guys never heard of the American military. Their lifespans are about to get a hell of a lot shorter
Obama will do SFA as always.
What would you have him do Ipsum?
Hand the job over to the Israeli Military. Then he should resign,he showed where his sympathies lie at the Benghazi episode.
Please don’t tell me you are on the Benghazi boat. You realise that is false scandal which the right have blown way out of proportion. The special ops will do the job in Nigeria. Watch the cowardly EU govs jump on the bandwagon
Obama has surrounded himself with so many red lines that he can’t move. The photo of Mrs. POTUS holding a note was the only US involvement that you will see.
It will be interesting to see if Israel will openly jump in to this situation. There is a fairly substantial percentage of Nigeria who are Muslim, so this could be taken as an act of aggression by many of Israel’s Arab neighbours. Saying that, the Israelis are more than capable of defending themselves and more so maybe they won’t care. Interesting either way.
Benghazi has been “blown out of proportion”? The American President sat by for hours while their embassy was attacked, his inaction allowed four people to be mirrored and then his administration lied to cover it up. And when it was discovered Hilary Clinton passes it off as no big deal and people like you lap it up. If that doesn’t deserve to be reported in, I dunno what does.
How many free deaths does Michael D get to allow before it’s worth paying attention to?
Converted to Islam?? Religion of Peace(!) is on duty again!!!
Who Profit personally led armies in to over 30 battles and raids and who survived by looting and robbing cities which was what u did in those days.
Profit lol. Freudian slip.
Why can’t they live in peace ? What is wrong with them ? And they say islam is a religion of peace !
Islam is more than a religion, it is a complete Prophet driven guide to everything from war to finance and toilet habits.
To a degree that no other faith even comes close to reaching.
It is what makes Islam so appealing for many, a guided structure, and what gives it its military streak.
Mohammed needed fighters to prosper and survive so the sword and war is central to the faith.
The media has made done a good job hiding the fact,that the vast majority of these girls are Christian.
Was it not widely known these girls were Christian? Was that not the point of the kidnapping by these lunatics?
Where are the Expendables when you need them?
Looks like a job for the A-Team
Hectic situation exploiting young frightened children and brainwashing them to submit to Allah. I dread to consider the alternative had they not. Terrorism on another level. Sadly they may not be challenged because of the extreme corruption that exists in Nigeria. Rotten to the core!
I don’t think you need to brainwash them. You just need to threaten to kill them.
What they may not realise is that these guys are deadly serious about conversion. It’s not some political game, like pretending to care about a certain set of policies. If they attempt to convert back to Christianity, their captors will kill them anyway.
Because all worthwhile belief systems need to be backed by the threat of violence.
These guys should be destroyed with no quarter given.
Well. According to the hostage release proposal by Boko, they plan to only release the girls who have not converted to Islam.
But they say all or nearly all have converted.
So this proposal by them is bull, obviously.
Can you explain me Linda, why Muslims in Muslim countries are always suffering? As a person who was born to a moderate muslim family in a muslim community i can say that the muslims in non-muslim, atheist or even christian countries are happier than the ones in Muslim countries. I bet Quran is not applicable in Sweeden, Norway, Uk or Ireland so that’s why Muslims are happier than the ones in Saudi, Yemen, Afghanistan, Iraq etc. where the Quran is fully applicable…On the other hand the fundamentlist Muslims can preach in front of GPO, i don’t think that a Christian or a follower of any other religion other than Islam can do same thing in Yemen or in any fully Muslim country. I would rather call this enjoying democracy without any religious intervention.
BTW, The lads beside the GPO have great ideas about democracy, civil&gay rights etc, they really prove that Islam is the religion of Peace(!) :)
very well said
It’s a bit scary to think that these guys are better armed than Nigeria’s military. I wonder where they get all their weaponry from?
It’s very simple, release the imprisoned ‘fighters’ in exchange for all the girls, then vaporise the horrible b’stards once the girls are safe. I don’t think anyone will miss these evil people
The Guardian has laid responsibility for this act on the altar of AGW, no joke this is the latest crackpot theory from them.
276 teen girls . You got to feel sorry for the terrorists .
ive no time for any of these organised religions people who feel the need to push their idea of god onto other people, that their view of religion is the best, and then commit sick crimes like this in the name of religion.
“Organized religion is a sham and a crutch for weak-minded people who need strength in numbers. It tells people to go out and stick their noses in other people’s business. I live by the golden rule: Treat others as you’d want them to treat you. The religious right wants to tell people how to live.”
― Jesse Ventura
No other organised religion has caused as much trouble as Islam. By and large, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists etc… do not force people to conform to their ideas under the threat of the sword like Islam does. Don’t even bother comparing Islam to religion. It’s basically just a following of the Saudi version of Jabba the hutt.
Proof from the Qur’an
There is not a single verse in the Qur’an which says to harm another person because of their not being a Muslim. On the contrary, there are several verses which talk about respecting non-Muslims.
To further clarify the matter about forced conversion to Islam, let’s look at these verses:
“ There is no compulsion in religion…” (Qur’an, 2:256)
“Had your Lord wanted, all the people on earth would have believed. So will you force people to believe?” (Qur’an, 10:99)
“So warn them: your only task is to warn, you’re not supposed to force them.” (Qur’an, 88:21-22)
“He does not forbid you to deal kindly and justly with anyone who has not fought you for your faith and driven you out of your homes, God loves the just.” (Qur’an, 60:8)
Could the Qur’an be any clearer on this issue?
Proof from the Prophet of Islam
The second source in Islam, after the Qur’an, are the statements made by the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Let’s see what he said about non-Muslims and how to force them to join Islam:
“Whoever kills an innocent non-Muslim will not even smell the fragrance of Paradise.” [Bukhārī]
How could this statement possibly be compatible with the ridiculous idea that Islam forces itself on others? Instead, it makes it clear that no non-Muslim is allowed to be harmed because of what they believe.
Now let’s have a quote from the bible?!!!!! That really helps!!!! Respect if Muslims respected non Muslims they wouldn’t be trying to take over western society and running out non Muslims from there own area!!! They would live like westerners and NOT put down western ways!!! That’s respect, when in Rome!!! So the quaran should be shoved where the sun does nt shine!!!
Quran (3:56) – “As to those who reject faith, I will punish them with terrible agony in this world and in the Hereafter, nor will they have anyone to help.”
Quran (4:76) – “Those who believe fight in the cause of Allah…”
Quran (8:12) – “I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them”
Quran (8:65) – “O Prophet, exhort the believers to fight…”
Quran (9:14) – “Fight them, Allah will punish them by your hands and bring them to disgrace…”
Quran (9:123) – “O you who believe! fight those of the unbelievers who are near to you and let them find in you hardness.”
Quran (25:52) – “Therefore listen not to the Unbelievers, but strive against them with the utmost strenuousness…”
Bukhari (52:220) – Allah’s Apostle said… ‘I have been made victorious with terror’
Muslim (1:30) – “The Messenger of Allah said: I have been commanded to fight against people so long as they do not declare that there is no god but Allah.”
Bukhari (52:73) – “Allah’s Apostle said, ‘Know that Paradise is under the shades of swords’.”
Bukhari (11:626) – [Muhammad said:] “I decided to order a man to lead the prayer and then take a flame to burn all those, who had not left their houses for the prayer, burning them alive inside their homes.”
Tabari 9:69 “Killing Unbelievers is a small matter to us” The words of Muhammad, prophet of Islam.
Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 992: – “Fight everyone in the way of Allah and kill those who disbelieve in Allah.”
SEND IN THE SAS. Kill these creatures
Use a killing machine on a killing machine.
SEND IN THE SAS END IT
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