Boko Haram, a Nigerian Islamic militant group, released a 16-minute video in which they mocked the #BringBackOurGirls Twitter campaign, which had been started in an effort to rescue the 200 or more Nigerian schoolgirls who had been abducted by the militants.
Abubakar Shekau, Boko Haram's leader, says in the video, "You've been going around saying, "Bring back our girls,' ["¦] but we say, "Bring back our army,'" calling for the release of Boko Haram members who had been captured and are currently imprisoned.
The #BringBackOurGirls campaign started in mid-April when dozens of schoolgirls had been kidnapped from the Government Secondary School in Chibok. The campaign has been endorsed by many public figures, including First Lady Michelle Obama, and Malala Yousafzai, a teenage Pakistani activist for education reform.
Abductions of schoolgirls numbering over 300 have been occurring in Nigeria since April, many of whom are still missing. It is reported that these girls are also being sold as brides to Islamist fighters.
"The Nigerian government says it knows where the girls are, but fears the militants would kill the girls if security forces launched an operation to free them," the World Post reports.
The Council on Foreign Relations records that over 22,000 deaths have been recorded in Nigeria since 2011, as a result of the continuous violence that has been occurring in this region.
The video footage was acquired by Agence France Press and released to the public on Sunday.
