Abubakar Shekau, the mercurial leader of the Islamist group, smirked as he said that the girls would never be released because they had been “married off” to fighters.
“The issue of the girls is long forgotten because I have long ago married them off,” he said, laughing. “In this war, there is no going back.”
Speaking in Hausa, the local dialect, Shekau denied claims made last month by Nigeria’s military and presidency that they had reached a deal to end five years of deadly violence in the country’s northeast, as well as agreement to release the Chibok girls.
And he mocked the government for claiming that they were negotiating with an envoy from Boko Haram named Danladi Ahmadu.
“We don’t know that liar and fake Danladi Ahmadu, we never met this liar with his character as he is claiming,” said Shekau.
“We have nothing to do with him, and our war is not ending. Expect more – what you are seeing is just a little effort. There is no retreat in this Jihad; Allah is with us, and we are succeeding.”
To make his point, Shekau ordered his men to attack the hometown of Air Marshal Alex Badeh, the chief of defence, who on October 17 had announced the ceasefire.
Boko Haram on Thursday captured Vintim, 120 miles south of Maiduguri, on the border with Cameroon. Mr Badeh and his family were not in the area at the time of the attack.
Local reports claimed that, fearing an attack, 4,500 troops were positioned around the town. But they were overrun by 300 Boko Haram fighters – who burnt down Mr Bandeh’s home, shouting “Bring out Badeh’s family, don’t let any one of them escape”.
When they discovered one of the sons of the Emir of Mubi – the regional ruler – they immediately killed him.
“It goes without saying: if the defence chief cannot defend his own village, he clearly cannot defend the nation,” wrote Dr Peregrino Brimah, founder of ENDS – Every Nigerian Do Something.
“If the current leadership continues to be in charge of the non-war against Boko Haram, the terrorists will surely soon overthrow the entire northern Nigerian local government – and eventually the entire nation.”