LAGOS
Nigeria's Boko Haram militant group has reportedly claimed responsibility for the abduction of scores of schoolgirls three weeks ago in the restive northern state of Borno, according to local media.
Sahara Reporters, a trusted Nigerian news portal, said the video had been released to a number of journalists.
"I am the one that abducted them... And more attacks will follow," it quoted Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau as saying.
The Premium Times, another Nigerian news portal, also said Shekau had claimed the girls abduction in a new video.
On April 14, militants stormed the Government Girls Secondary School in Borno State's Chibok, located on the fringes of the Sambisa Forest, a known Boko Haram hideout.
They loaded scores of the schoolgirls onto trucks before driving away unhindered.
Three weeks later, the exact number of the missing schoolgirls remains dogged by controversy.
While local authorities say 129 girls went missing that night, some parents put the total as high as 234.
Going by official figures, 73 remain missing until now.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan admitted late Sunday that his government did not know the abducted schoolgirls' whereabouts.
He said the government was not negotiating with any individuals or groups for the schoolgirls' release.
"We are not negotiating with anybody because there is nobody to negotiate with," he said.
"We cannot negotiate with anyone who has not come to the table," he added. "So the issue of negotiations has not come up."
More than 1500 people have been killed this year alone in attacks blamed on Boko Haram insurgents, most of which have taken place in the northeastern Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states.
Boko Haram first emerged in the early 2000s, preaching against government misrule and corruption. The group later became violent, however, after the death of its leader while in police custody.
In the years since, the shadowy sect has been blamed for attacking places of worship and government institutions, along with causing thousands of deaths.
Most abducted Schoolchildren are Christians: Nigeria
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan announced Sunday that the overwhelming majority of the schoolgirls abducted three weeks ago by suspected Boko Haram militants were Christians.
"It is understandable that Islamic culture does not allow you to expose women (girls) but in this case 90 percent of the girls kidnapped in Chibok are Christians," he said during a two-hour TV program with Nigerian media executives.
Jonathan made the comment when analyzing what possible reasons could make parents not want to release the pictures of the schoolgirls.
His assertion about the religious background of the girls appears to contradict his earlier argument that the government was struggling with "contradictory" information supplied by the local authorities.
On April 14, militants stormed the Government Girls Secondary School in Borno State's Chibok, located on the fringes of the Sambisa Forest, a known Boko Haram hideout.
They loaded scores of schoolgirls onto trucks before driving away unhindered.
A full two weeks later, the exact number of the missing schoolgirls remains dogged by controversy.
While local authorities say 129 girls went missing that night, some parents put the total as high as 234.
Going by official figures, 73 are still missing.
Thousands of protesters marched through major Nigerian cities last week to demand "prompt and strong" government action to free the schoolgirls.
They criticized perceived government apathy amid the deep distress and sadness of the missing girls' families.
President Jonathan's remarks came hours after the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in northwest Kaduna released a list of the names and religious affiliations of the abducted girls.
In a statement, CAN said that 180 girls were abducted, of whom 165 are Christians.
"Chibok is 90 percent Christians. Majority of the girls abducted are Christian," said the statement signed by Mathew Owojaiye, an influential Christian cleric who once headed the Northern States Christian Elders Forum (NOSCEF).
"Every Christian home must raise a lamentation to heaven daily. Let God arise and defend his name, honor and majesty," he said.
The body also called on the government "whose duty it was to protect the innocent girls" to pay N50m ($312,500) to each of the girls when released as "trauma compensation" and to send each of the girls to overseas university on government scholarship.
The local Borno government has yet to speak on the CAN's comment.
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