Suspected Boko Haram militants issue video of three kidnapped oil survey team members [Nigeria]

Reuters ^ | 28 July 2017 | Ardo Abdullahi and Alexis Akwagyiram

[Lorianne]

Suspected Boko Haram members released a video on Saturday that shows three kidnapped members of an oil exploration team in northeastern Nigeria, one of whom asks the government to reduce the use of force against the jihadists.

The team, which included university staff and employees from Nigeria's state oil firm, was kidnapped by suspected members of the Islamist militant group while searching for oil in the conflict-ridden northeast on Tuesday.

A rescue attempt on Wednesday ended in the deaths of at least 37 members of the original prospecting team and the rescuers, including Nigerian military and armed vigilantes, according to officials and military sources.

It prompted a change of tactic by the government amid a spate of attacks by the group whose bid to create an Islamic state in the northeast led to the deaths of at least 20,000 people and forced some 2.7 million to flee their homes since 2009.

In the video, seen by Reuters, the men are seen seemingly unharmed and sitting crosslegged on a red floor in front of a patterned wall. The video was obtained by Sahara Reporters, a U.S.-based journalism website.

The University of Maiduguri confirmed the three men in the video were their staff members. It also released a photo of them late on Friday.

[txhurl]

Wonder what zero would have done about this. Send Harf to exclaim ‘see? Boko Haram just wants JOBS!’

[onedoug]

boko haram, nominal islam

[Dogbert41]

"Wonder what zero would have done about this..."

This