The girls – all dressed in full length, black robes – state their names, their school and where they are from
Rifkatu Ayuba, Mary Ishaya and Yana Galang were invited to the viewing centre in Maiduguri by the chairman of Chibok Local Government Area, Bana Lawan. Seven girls have been identified so far, however, local officials said more identifications needed.
In a video obtained by CNN news channel 15 girls are heard saying they studied in the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok and beg the government to cooperate with militants to bring them back home. The girls spoke in Hausa and Kibaku, the local Chibok language.
"The girls were looking very, very well. They were definitely our daughters… All we want is for the government to bring back our girls," Mrs Galang said in a telephone interview with the Thomson Reuters Foundation after viewing the video.
Reacting to the new development senator Shehu Sani and former negotiator on the girls' release found the video credible and advised Boko Haram insurgents to embrace dialogue.
In an interview with CNN on Wednesday he said: "Negotiation will make it possible for these girls to be brought back home alive. What has always been the problem in the last few years has been the very fact there are scam negotiators, who most times make claims and don't deliver.
And I think this is what we must be very careful of at this time. The very fact that we can get such a credible video from some sources and those sources are elements that need to be utilised to be able to achieve the goal of getting these girls out. When President Muhammadu Buhari took over, a section of our country was taken over by the insurgence group.
They hosted their flags and even unleashed their version of theocratic Islamic group. But now, with funding for the military and support by the government, the morale is high, the military had been able to push them back and most of the cities in the North-East are safe.
Buhari has not been able to achieve 100 per cent success but he has made serious progress. I believe he can still achieve more. With the very fact that now, they know clearly they cannot win militarily and the only option is to go for other ways. There is no other way other than for them to agree to negotiate on the release of these girls."
The video is believed to have been made last December as part of the discussions between the government and the extremist group. It is the first footage of the girls to be seen since May 2014. Their whereabouts are yet to be established.
According to Amnesty International about 2,000 girls and boys have been abducted by the Boko Haram since 2014, with many used as sex slaves, fighters and suicide bombers.
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