"Spiritual Leader Inside Boko Haram" Speaks On Chibok Girls' Condition
A man who identified himself as "spiritual leader inside Boko Haram" spoke with the BBC World Service radio describing the current state of the school girls abducted by insurgents almost 3 months ago in Chibok, Borno State.
In an interview the man, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the girls were in "good state of health" and disclosed how they can be freed, The Cable reports. He confirmed the earlier claims that Christians students had been converted to Islam, adding however that those who objected were not forced to do so.
Regarding the options for girls' release he stated:
"We want the Nigerian government to release our members. If they release our members today, we will release the girls tomorrow. You will see all of them. As Abubakar Shekau, our leader promised the media, if our members are released, the girls will be released... Today, if the government releases our members, tomorrow or the next day, we promise [that] you can see all of them."
Related: We Are Getting Nearer To Finding The Chibok Girls - FG
Describing how the girls are being treated by the captors, he said:
"The girls are in a state of amnesty; they don’t have any problem. We are not forcing them or putting them under any pressure. Those who agreed to convert to Islam have been converted and those who refused have been left. There is no force conversion in Islam. Allah commands us to treat everyone equally. We are not discriminating against them; we treat all of them equally. They all are healthy. They feed well... Under Islam, killing women and children is not acceptable. But if they are fighting you, then you must fight them. But if they don’t attack you, you leave them. Killing children and women is not accepted at all. We only go after those who give information to our enemy."
It would be recalled that the battle aimed at bringing back the abducted female students started on April 14. Since then a lot of resources have been deployed both locally and globally to find and rescue the girls. In one of the videos Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau suggested the condition for release: girls in exchange for the group prisoners. The negotiations with the insurgents were said to have been started, however the Nigerian authorities reportedly cancelled the "swap" shortly before it was to take place.
Source: Legit.ng
