Flaunting an AK-47 in her Boko Haram camp, one of the Chibok girls remaining in the custody of the terror sect, insisted yesterday that she is gone with them for good.
Maida Yakubu, flanked by three other girls, all dressed in niqob (veil), said in the latest video message from the sect that she is now married to a Boko Haram fighter.
But her distraught mother believes Maida could not have willingly said what she said.
She said her action came from torture.
In a second video released late Friday by the sect, one of the Boko Haram commanders released last week in exchange for freedom for 82 of the Chibok girls vowed that there is no going back for them in fighting the rest of the country.
He threatened that Abuja would soon come under a bomb attack.
The military responded swiftly to the threat yesterday, branding it “mere propaganda.”
Maida was interviewed in the video by a Boko Haram commander.
Below is the interview as obtained by Sahara Reporters:
Question: What is your name?
Answer: My name is Maida Yakubu.
Question: Where are you from?
Answer: From Chibok.
Question: What are your parents’ names?
Answer: My mother’s name is Esther Mutari and my father’s name is Yakubu Kaba.
Question: What is the name of your school?
Answer: GDSS Chibok.
Question: Why did you refuse to return to your parents?
Answer: Because they are in the town of infidels. We want them to accept Islam and join us to practise the religion and rest in the hereafter.
Question: What is the truth about the allegation that you were married off by force? Is that true?
Answer: It is not true, only those who agreed to marry are married off.
Question: What message do you have for your parents?
Answer: My message to them is for them to accept Islam and practice the religion of God.
Question: What message do you have for the people of Nigeria?
Answer: I call on all Nigerians to leave any book that is not from God and follow the holy book and the sayings of the Prophet. God’s religion will continue to prosper whether you like it or not. If you refuse, you will die in frustration.
A distraught Esther could not believe what her daughter said in the video.
She told AFP that Maida acted under duress.
“For me, this video is torture,” she said.
“I haven’t slept since I watched it.
“The tie that binds us is unbreakable. It’s just not possible that my daughter prefers her kidnappers to me.”
Muntari said she “immediately understood that she had been forced to say what she said in the video”.
Another Chibok parent, Enoch Mark, said the video has “instilled fear in our minds and has somewhat dampened our hope that our girls will be freed.”
“I don’t think any of our girls would choose to stay with Boko Haram if they were given a choice,” Mark whose two children are missing, said.
“The only explanation” is that Maida was “forced to stay”.
Maida’s comments confirm the statement last week by Presidential spokesman Garba Shehu that one of the Chibok girls refused to return home with the 82 whose freedom was negotiated with the terror sect.
Mediator and lawyer Zannah Mustapha spoke in the same vein, saying some of the abducted girls refused to be released, fuelling fears that they have been radicalized.
In the second Boko Haram video released on Friday night, a man who identifies himself as Abu Dardaa, or Money, said Boko Haram is back in Sambisa Forest and is preparing to bomb Abuja.
“More bombs attacks are on the way, including Abuja that you feel is secured,” he boasted in Hausa.
According to him there can be no peace but war between the group and Nigeria.
He also said more than five Commanders from the terror group were released in exchange for the Chibok girls.
He said there has been no sulhu or dialogue with the government and there won’t be any,” he said, saying: “only war is between us.”
Last month, the Department of State Services (DSS) said it had thwarted plans by Boko Haram to attack the British and U.S. embassies in Abuja.
The Director Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Sani Usman yesterday branded the Boko Haram threat to bomb Abuja as mere propaganda
He said the terrorists have lost touch with current realities.
Usman said the video messages were designed to seek relevance and attention.”
On Abu Dardaa’s threat, the army spokesman said: “As you are all aware, he was a direct beneficiary of the process that led to the release of 82 of the abducted girls and does not have a say or capacity to do anything, therefore his threats should be ignored.”
He assured Nigerians of continued commitment of the military to federal government’s effort to bring back home all the remaining Chibok girls.
He said: “We will not relent in our determined efforts of clearing the remnants of the Boko Haram terrorists as manifested through the ongoing clearance operations.
“The Nigerian Air Force is unrelenting in its bombardment while other security agencies are equally doing their best.
“We should not give in to terrorists’ propaganda and empty threats. We have come to a very critical stage of the fight against terrorism and insurgency in Nigeria that requires more patriotism and security consciousness.
“Gone are the days when people glamorized terrorists and their criminal acts.”
Dubai-based Nigerian journalist, Ahmad Salkida, reputed to have direct access to top leaders of the sect, released part of the video to Sahara Reporters.
He confirmed the identity of Maida in a tweet.
“The Chibok girl that spoke in the video today, holding an AK47 rifle is Maida Yakubu,” he wrote.
The Chibok girl that spoke in the video today (Friday), holding an AK47 rifle is Maida Yakubu.
– Ahmad Salkida (@ContactSalkida) May 12, 2017.
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