Strong indications emerged on Saturday indicating that the terrorist sect, Boko Haram, may have moved some of the over 200 schoolgirls it abducted from Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State out of West Africa.
There were reports on Friday that some of the abducted schoolgirls were seen in Birao, a small town in the north of Central African Republic with armed men.
An online report by a French news medium, Jeune Afrique, on Friday, said villagers saw about 50 young women led by armed men in the North Central African Republic last week.
The report indicated that “The Nigerian schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram have passed through the northern CAR, escorted by armed men. Based on several testimonies of inhabitants, the women arrived Wednesday, April 30 aboard trucks.
“They were guarded by heavily armed men, who spoke English, and also members of the former (CAR) rebel Seleka.”
Seleka is an alliance of Islamic rebel militia factions that overthrew the Central African Republic government early last year and installed their leader as president.
“The group which has reportedly carried out several executions, rape and looting split last year with Christian and Muslim factions terrorising the CAR, forcing France to send more troops to the region.
The French newspaper added that natives of Birao were afraid to approach the kidnapped girls. “According to our source, the convoy of two trucks and a pickup was previously seen at Tiroungoulou (about 170 kilometres southwest of Birao) and perhaps Chad.
“Upon arrival, some were frightened, cried and were violently rebuked in English. The girls and their guardians were then housed for several days in a house. The group reportedly left the scene on the night of Sunday to Monday, May 4 to 5, without a trace,” the report said.
Shekau, while claiming responsibility for the seizure of the girls in a video, threatened to sell the abducted girls. “I abducted your girls. I will sell them in the market, by Allah,” he said.
Earlier, there were reports that the girls were taken to neighbouring Cameroon and Chad but the Cameroonian government faulted reports that some of the teenagers had been married off in the country.
Cameroon’s Minister of Communication, Issa Tchiroma Bakari, was quoted as saying he was shocked by accusations that Cameroon was not collaborating with Nigeria to free the girls from their captors.
“We insist that allegations from Nigeria that a part of the 200 young female students recently kidnapped in the North-East of Nigeria would have been transferred to Cameroon to be forced into marriage to members of the Boko Haram sect are fully unfounded.
“Cameroon will never ever serve as a support base for destabilisation activities towards other countries,” he was quoted as saying.
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