Boko Haram leader says abducted Nigerian schoolgirls `married off`

USPA News - More than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls who were abducted by the Islamist group Boko Haram earlier this year have converted to Islam and have been married off, the group`s leader said in a new video released on Saturday, in which he also denied agreeing to a truce with the Nigerian government. Abubakar Shekau, the group`s leader, bragged and laughed about the mass kidnapping that prompted international protests six months ago but has since faded from the world`s attention.

"Allah has proved too difficult for the infidel," he bragged. "Allah has proved too difficult for everyone. Allah is mightier than everyone." Shekau said the schoolgirls have converted to Islam and are now living with their husbands. "Don`t you know the more than 200 Chibok schoolgirls have converted to Islam? They have now memorized two chapters of the Koran," he said, speaking in the local Hausa language. "The girls from Chibok are confessing that Islam is the true religion." While laughing, the group`s leader added: "We married them off. They are in their marital homes." Shekau also rejected Nigeria`s recent announcement that a ceasefire had been reached with Boko Haram. "What is this negotiation? We did not negotiate with anyone. It is a lie. It is a lie," the group`s leader said. "We will not negotiate. What is our business with negotiation? Allah said we should not. We follow the Koran. We will not be teased by any infidel." Shekau denied knowing a man known as Danladi Ahmadu, calling him a "fake" for having represented the Boko Haram in apparent ceasefire talks with the Nigerian and Chadian governments. Boko Haram has also claimed to be holding an unidentified German hostage, who Shekau threatened to kill in Saturday`s new video. "Don`t you know we are still holding your German hostage? He`s always crying. If we want we hack him, slaughter him or shoot him. We fear no one but Allah. This is our job," he said. The German government has refused to comment on Boko Haram`s claim that it is holding a German citizen. Some 276 schoolgirls were abducted by the Boko Haram when the militants attacked a secondary school in Chibok town in northeastern Nigeria on April 15, but a few dozen were able to escape in the immediate aftermath, leaving at least 219 children still missing. Uncertainty remains over the figures, with some claiming the true number to be higher while others say it is lower. The Boko Haram is seeking the imposition of an extremist stance of the Shariah law, which is a Muslim code of conduct. The group`s name, in the local language of Hausa, roughly translates as `Western religion is sacrilegious` or `non-Islamic religion is a sin.` The U.S. formally designated the group a foreign terrorist organization in November 2013, and the UN Security Council added the group to its terror sanctions list in May.