The dozens of young women were gathered together to recite the first chapter of the Qur’an, their palms turned upwards in prayer but their collective gaze fixed mainly on the forest floor on which they sit, have, in their captors’ words, been “released”.
Few of them seem to be enjoying their four weeks of freedom. Some of them shutting their eyes tight in concentration or perhaps fear; other are fidgeting and glancing about and let the phrase “In the name of Allah.
On Monday almost a month after the women were kidnapped, some of the 276 Nigerian girls taken from their school under cover of darkness appeared to in a propaganda video shot by the Islamist group Boko Haram, that has in recent days acquired the notoriety it has sought for years.
The 27-minute video , shown with the logo of a pair of crossed Kalashnikovs, a black flag and an open Qur’an, and  around 130 girls are shown wearing grey and black veils. Two of them speak of their conversion from Christianity to Islam.
In the video,  Boko Haram’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, tells the camera with a grin. “These girls have become Muslims. They’re Muslims.”
Who are Boko Haram ? (according to bbc.com)
They are Nigeria’s militant Islamist group Boko Haram – which has caused havoc in Africa’s most populous country through a wave of bombings, assassinations and now abductions – is fighting to overthrow the government and create an Islamic state.
Its followers are said to be influenced by the Koranic phrase which says: “Anyone who is not governed by what Allah has revealed is among the transgressors”.
Boko Haram promotes a version of Islam which makes it “haram”, or forbidden, for Muslims to take part in any political or social activity associated with Western society.
This includes voting in elections, wearing shirts and trousers or receiving a secular education.
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