Nigeria’s Chibok schoolgirls shown alive in Boko Haram video

The Nigerian Islamist Boko Haram group has released a video that appears to show fifteen of the girls kidnapped by the group two years ago from the town of Chibok.

According to news reports, the video was filmed in December and sent to the Nigerian government. It shows 15 of the 276 girls kidnapped some two years ago, identifying themselves as pupils abducted from the school. Some of those filmed have been identified by their parents.

The video which was apparently filmed on Christmas Day 2015, shows the girls pleading with the Nigerian government to co-operate with militants towards their release, and they say that they are being treated well but want to be with their families.

The video is the first footage of the girls to be seen since May 2014, after the shocking case had triggered a global social media campaign #BringBackOurGirls, that featured US first lady Michelle Obama and a number of other celebrities. However, despite the global awareness, most of the girls are still missing, and hundreds of parents are due to hold a march in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, to demand the government does more to find their daughters, the BBC reports.

The BBC also reports that many blame the previous government helmed by Goodluck Jonathan, for not doing anything when the kidnappings took place. The current government, on the other hand, is being blamed for failing to devote enough resources to the search.

In a video released shortly after the abductions, Boko Haram's leader, Abubakar Shekau, demanded a prisoner exchange, and said that the girls had converted to Islam. He further threatened to force them into marriage with his fighters or sell them into slavery.

Some 57 students have managed to escape over the past months but estimates show that at least 219 are still missing.

According to Amnesty International figures, Boko Haram has abducted some 2,000 children since 2014, with the majority of them being used as sex slaves, fighters and suicide bombers.

Nigeria has made significant progress in its fight against the militant group after the army retook towns and villages controlled by the group and freed hundreds of women and children being held captive throughout the past year.