Abubakar Shekau resurfaces, insists on hostage swap for Chibok girls

Abubakar Shekau, leader of Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram, has resurfaced in a new video insisting on releasing the missing Chibok girls only if the government agrees to a prisoner swap.

The video of him is the first since the Nigerian army announced that he was “fatally wounded” in an airstrike in August including other leaders of the group.

“Bring back our girls after you bring back our members,” Shekau said in the 40-minute video released on YouTube dated September 25.

Shekau spoke in Arabic and then Hausa, while using the latter to address the Nigerian government specifically Muhammadu Buhari.

He claimed he was healthy and safe and that only God could kill him. This was in reply to the Nigerian army that has announced his death several times.

President Muhammadu Buhari has already expressed readiness to release imprisoned Boko Haram members for the remaining 218 Chibok girls who are still in Shekau’s custody.

He reiterated at the UN General Assembly last Thursday that they are ready to negotiate but only with credible leaders of the terrorist group.

Pressure has been mounting on the Nigerian government to act swiftly in the search for the school girls who were abducted in 2014 after a raid of their school dormitories by Boko Haram in Chibok while they were sleeping at night.

A series of protests were held in August by the Bring Back Our Girls activists demanding a swift response by the government.