Boko Haram Claims It Kidnapped 200 Nigerian Schoolgirls

ABUJA, Nigeria - The Islamist militant group Boko Haram has threatened to sell hundreds of Nigerian schoolgirls abducted during a raid last month, the French news agency AFP reported on Monday.

AFP said it had obtained a video from Boko Haram showing the group's leader Abubakar Shekau claiming responsibility for the kidnappings by saying "I abducted your girls."

"I will sell them in the market," Shekau adds, according to AFP. It did not immediately give further details and the report could not immediately be verified by NBC News.

• Add to Google

Nigerian Girls’ Kidnapper Sends Chilling Message

03:24

The girls were seized from a secondary school in the village of Chibok in northeast Nigeria on April 14.

The kidnappings have sparked numerous protests throughout Nigeria outraged over perceived government inaction and ineptitude.

Demonstrations have spread to Washington and London, with pressure mounting over the Nigerian government's failure to find the girls.

• Add to Google

Kerry Calls Kidnappings 'Unconscionable Crime,' Promises Support

00:21

Nigeria’s president over the weekend insisted the girls would be found.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCentrist think tank warns 2028 Democrats against swinging too far left on immigration

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRussia’s secrecy after a mysterious plague lab death raises global alarm

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAfter surviving a botched lethal injection, Christa Pike faces unprecedented legal battle

FOR SUBSCRIBERSHunger in a land of plenty: Major food banks face ‘heartbreaking’ need, NBC News survey finds

FOR SUBSCRIBERSInflation and tariffs push U.S. holiday spending projections to a record $1.7 trillion

FOR SUBSCRIBERSWhat happened inside the room where officials tried to execute Christa Pike by lethal injection

FOR SUBSCRIBERSHow we reported the saga of the CIA officer and his gold-bar stash

FOR SUBSCRIBERSBrad Raffensperger gears up to oversee his final election in Georgia

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDiddy is punished following NBC News report on his VIP life in prison and contraband cellphone use

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘Too young to vote, old enough to be tear gassed’: French protesters’ anger swells

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDOJ gets aggressive in suing states that challenge Trump’s immigration policies

FOR SUBSCRIBERSJustice Department seeks criminal charge for former Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘I just want to hold him’: USS Lincoln sailor to meet his 10-month-old son as ship docks

FOR SUBSCRIBERSSenate candidates run on raising Social Security taxes for higher incomes to prevent benefit cuts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRussian operation that used ChatGPT tricked schools, a politician and media, OpenAI says

Slide 1 of 1

Last week, the U.S. said it was working with Nigeria to support their efforts to find the girls amid reports the schoolgirls are being sold into marriage.

Boko Haram - whose name means "Western education is sinful" has been waging an increasingly violent campaign to carve out an Islamic state in northern Nigeria.

While much of the group’s five-year insurgency has targeted the northeast, recent attacks blamed on Boko Haram – such as the bombing last month of a crowded bus station in Abuja – indicate the group could be extending its reach.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCentrist think tank warns 2028 Democrats against swinging too far left on immigration

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRussia’s secrecy after a mysterious plague lab death raises global alarm

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAfter surviving a botched lethal injection, Christa Pike faces unprecedented legal battle

FOR SUBSCRIBERSHunger in a land of plenty: Major food banks face ‘heartbreaking’ need, NBC News survey finds

FOR SUBSCRIBERSInflation and tariffs push U.S. holiday spending projections to a record $1.7 trillion

FOR SUBSCRIBERSWhat happened inside the room where officials tried to execute Christa Pike by lethal injection

FOR SUBSCRIBERSHow we reported the saga of the CIA officer and his gold-bar stash

FOR SUBSCRIBERSBrad Raffensperger gears up to oversee his final election in Georgia

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDiddy is punished following NBC News report on his VIP life in prison and contraband cellphone use

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘Too young to vote, old enough to be tear gassed’: French protesters’ anger swells

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDOJ gets aggressive in suing states that challenge Trump’s immigration policies

FOR SUBSCRIBERSJustice Department seeks criminal charge for former Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘I just want to hold him’: USS Lincoln sailor to meet his 10-month-old son as ship docks

FOR SUBSCRIBERSSenate candidates run on raising Social Security taxes for higher incomes to prevent benefit cuts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRussian operation that used ChatGPT tricked schools, a politician and media, OpenAI says

Slide 1 of 1

The U.S. State Department ranks Boko Haram as one of the most dangerous terror groups in the world, alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan and al Qaeda factions in Iraq and the Arabian Peninsula.

Reuters contributed to this report.