Video showing kidnapped Chibok girls raises hopes they are alive

Johannesburg (dpa) - A video allegedly sent by Boko Haram to Nigerian negotiators shows some of the more than 200 girls kidnapped from a school in Chibok in the north-east of the country two years ago, CNN reported Thursday. Released by CNN on the second anniversary of the kidnapping, the video shows 15 girls dressed in black robes, giving their names and saying they come from the school in Chibok. One of the girls says all the Chibok girls are well and appeals to the Nigerian authorities to help reunite them with their families. The video is believed to have been made in December as part of negotiations between the government and the Islamist group, CNN reported. It was released by someone keen to give the girls' parents hope that their daughters are still alive, and to motivate the government to help release them, the broadcaster said. The parents recognized some of the girls as their daughters in the video. But there were some doubts about how old the video really was, as the girls appeared to have changed little in two years, Information Minister Lai Mohammed told CNN. Hundreds of campaigners asking the government to find the girls were due to stage a march in the capital Abuja to mark the anniversary on Thursday.