A VIDEO released by the armed group that abducted the 24 schoolgirls from Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, has shown the students shortly before they were freed.
The video surfaced hours after the Presidency announced the girls’ freedom, with the terrorists taunting the students and claiming the government was unable to rescue them before their release on Monday, November 25.
The terrorists were armed and masked up their faces in the footage.
The armed group lined up the girls and questioned them about their welfare in captivity. The girls state the date as “25/11/25” when asked by one of the gunmen. They also respond ”no’ when asked if they were left hungry and ‘yes’ when asked if they were cared for.
The bandits then told them, “In shaa Allah, you will be given back to your parents in good condition.”
They further asked whether they were maltreated or harmed. The girls reply, “no.”
The gunman claimed the girls were being released because ‘manya’—meaning elders—had intervened in negotiations.
The terrorists who were armed in the viral video also emphasised that their release came through negotiation, saying: “You will be handed over through dialogue and negotiation. It was not force that was used.”
At one point, one of the terrorists asked the girls how many military aircraft they saw searching for them; the students answered, “We can’t even count,” they say.
A visual review of the footage shows men in the background farming, suggesting the recording took place in an open rural settlement, where the terrorists had struck a peace deal with the community.
The girls were abducted on November 17 after terrorists stormed their school in the early hours of the morning, shortly after a military detachment reportedly left the premises. Their release follows similar developments in Kwara and Niger States, where victims of abductions were also freed on Sunday.
The Presidency had confirmed that direct engagement with armed groups has been used in other recent kidnappings, including the abduction of 38 worshippers in Eruku, Kwara State.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said the State Security Services (SSS) and military operatives contacted the abductors of Kwara worshippers for their release.
“I think after the incident happened, the DSS (legally known as SSS) and the military were involved in the rescue effort. They got in contact with the bandits to release those people unharmed, and finally on Sunday, they were able to get them out unharmed,” he said.
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Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M
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