The Boko Haram insurgents released a video, on Thursday, claiming to show schoolboys seized in a mass kidnapping in northwest Nigeria last week, the Agence France Presse (AFP) and Reuters reported.
A distraught teenager, speaking in English and Hausa in the video seen by AFP, said he was among 520 students taken by “the gang of Abu Shekau.”
The teenager was surrounded by a large group of boys — some looking very young — who were clustered under a tree, appearing grubby and exhausted.
The assault last Friday on a rural school in Kankara, Katsina state, was initially blamed on criminals, known as bandits, who have terrorised the region for years.
The video was released with a recording of a voice resembling that of the group’s elusive leader, Abubakar Shekau.
It reiterated the claim of responsibility.
“I earlier released an audio confirming our people did God’s work, but people denied it,” the voice said. “Here are my men, and your children have spoken.”
The video was sent to AFP via the same channel as previous messages by Boko Haram.
Reuters also reported that the video, featuring Boko Haram’s emblem, showed a group of boys in a wood begging security forces to leave the area. Reuters was not able to immediately verify the authenticity of the footage, the boys shown or who released it.
A spokesman for Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari did not immediately respond to a call and messages regarding the video.
The group claimed responsibility for the December 11 kidnappings earlier this week, but previously had shown no proof. If its claims are true, Boko Haram’s involvement in northwestern Katsina state marks a geographical expansion in its activities.
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