Top Muslim body demands Boko Haram free abducted girls

CAIRO (AFP) – Egypt’s prestigious Islamic
institute Al-Azhar urged the Nigerian Muslim
group Boko Haram group Tuesday to free more
than 200 schoolgirls it kidnapped and has
threatened to sell into slavery.
Al-Azhar, which runs the main Sunni Islamic
university in the region, said harming the girls
“completely contradicts the teachings of Islam
and its tolerant principles.”
It called “for the immediate release” of the girls,
abducted on April 14 in Nigeria’s northeastern
Borno state.
Abubakar Shekau, who leads the group that has
killed thousands in a five-year uprising, claimed
responsibility for the kidnappings.
In a video message obtained by AFP on Monday,
Shekau said the group was holding the girls as
“slaves” and would “sell (them) in the market.”
A total of 276 girls were kidnapped when Boko
Haram stormed their school under the cover of
darkness and loaded them onto trucks. Some
managed to escape, but more than 220 girls are
still being held, according to police.
Global outrage, initially slow to emerge, has been
building, including calls by US senators for
Washington to intervene.

SHARE THIS