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              New Video Shows 15 'Chibok Girls,' But Parents Wary

   by Chris Stein

   Two years after Islamist militants kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls
   in northern Nigeria, a new video purporting to show some of the missing
   girls just four months ago has given parents hope that their children
   are still alive.

   Until now, there has been almost no news on the 219 girls taken by Boko
   Haram militants in 2014 from a school in the town of Chibok, which
   sparked global condemnation, street protests in Nigeria, and offers of
   help finding the girls from the country's allies.

   A video that emerged on Wednesday, which shows 15 of the girls and may
   have been filmed in December, is the first sign of the abductees since
   they appeared in a Boko Haram propaganda video shortly after their
   kidnapping.

   "Yes, they are our girls," Yana Galang, whose daughter Rifkatu Dalamg
   is among the missing, told VOA. She said she had seen the video but her
   daughter was not among the 15 girls included.

   ''The video shows the girls, speaking in the Hausa and Kibaku
   languages, responding to questions from an unseen interrogator, who
   asks their names and where they were taken from.

   But Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed said he was wary
   of the video, which was first broadcast by CNN.

   False leads

   The government has received numerous false leads on the girls'
   whereabouts since their abduction, including a similar video last July.


   While a girl in the video said they are being filmed on December 25 of
   last year, Mohammed says it's unclear when the video was actually shot.

   "We are also a bit worried and concerned that, two years after
   captivity, they would be under no stress whatsoever, they would not
   have changed physically," he said, referring to the girls shown in the
   clip. "But despite that, we are still reaching out. ... We would want
   more evidence that this video is credible."

   The new video is not the only recent sign of the girls.

   ''Since January, two parents of missing girls have received phone calls
   from their abducted daughters' cellphone numbers, siad Yakubu Nkeki,
   chairman Abducted Chibok Girls Parents Movement for Rescue.

   On the other end of the line on both calls were unknown men, who told
   the parents that the phone belonged to their wives, Nkeki said.

   But in Chibok, some relatives are suspicious of the recent development.

   The past two years have been filled with rumors that the girls had
   turned up somewhere in Nigeria's northeast or in one of the neighboring
   countries, said Philip Yama, whose sister Margaret Yama was abducted.

   "I can't believe it until I saw these girls with my own eyes," said
   Yama, who hasn't seen the video.

   Feel neglected

   Many in the northeastern town said they feel neglected.

   While the insurgents burnt some of the dormitories in the course of the
   raid, the school was later demolished by the government. Officials told
   the families a new school would be built.

   However, two years later there is still no school, and students have
   either dropped out or relocated elsewhere to continue their studies.

   ''That scene has played out across the northeast, which has been
   ravaged by fighting between Nigeria's military and Boko Haram.

   A Human Rights Watch report released earlier this week said Boko Haram
   has destroyed more than 2,000 schools and killed 611 teachers since
   2009. HRW said more than 1 million children have little or no access to
   an education.

   In recent years, Boko Haram has started relying on children to fill the
   ranks of its suicide bombers.

   A report from the U.N. Children's Fund released this week said 44
   children were involved in suicide attacks last year, up from only four
   in 2014.

   Chibok is no stranger to these bombings. A triple-suicide bombing in
   the town killed at least 10 people in January.

   The stress of the kidnapping and insurgency has taken a toll on the
   community.

   Nkeki said 18 parents of abducted girls have died the since the
   kidnapping.

   Boko Haram killed some, while Nkeki said others succumbed to illnesses
   or stress-related ailments brought by the pain of waiting for the
   return of their daughters.

   PHOTO GALLERY: Two years later, most Chibok girls still missing

   ''
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/new-video-shows-15-chibok-girls-but-p
   arents-wary/3285365.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/new-video-shows-15-chibok-girls-but-parents-wary/3285365.html