The Slatest

Boko Haram Denies Truce, Says Kidnapped Girls Have Been “Married Off”

A poster shows a photograph of Abubakar Shekau, leader of the militant Islamist group Boko Haram.

Photo by Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP/Getty Images

Boko Haram thinks all the truce talk is hilarious. At least that is what it seems like judging from a video released Friday to Nigerian media that purported to show the terrorist group’s leader Abubakar Shekau laughing off claims that it had reached a ceasefire with the government and that the more than 200 girls the group kidnapped six months ago were close to being released. “A lie,” Shekau said. “We married them off. They are in their marital homes,” he said, chuckling, according to CNN. He then added that the girls converted to Islam and “have now memorized two chapters of the Quran.” In fact, the whole issue about the kidnapped girls has been “long forgotten,” he added.

In the video, Shekau said he had no idea whom the supposed negotiator was who supposedly worked out a cease-fire deal with the government on behalf of the Islamist group. “We will not spare him and will slaughter him if we get him,” he said of the negotiator. He also threatened to kill a captured German hostage, who is “always crying.” He added that the extremist group could “hack him or slaughter him or shoot him,” reports the Associated Press.

Throughout the rambling speech, Shekau, who “bristled with theatrical rage,” talked about everything from the “Islamic State to obscure Nigerian politicians to a threat to ‘eat the heart of infidels,’ ” reports the Wall Street Journal. Yet more than what he said, the mere release of a video is bad news for President Goodluck Jonathan, whose administration had touted the cease-fire on the campaign trail. Jonathan is expected to win a second term in February.