Journalist linked to Boko Haram says many of the Chibok girls are dead

It’s been four years since Islamist insurgent group Boko Haram kidnapped more than 270 girls from a school in the town of Chibok.

Many have since been released with 112 still missing.

As parents and guardians continue to hope for the release of the remaining girls, a Nigerian journalist linked with the Islamist group has claimed that only 15 out of the 112 girls are still alive.

According to Ahmad Salkida, his several negotiations on behalf of the government to have the girls released have all proved futile.

He said the arrangements often included a prisoner swap, but the government has delayed in that regard leading to a breakdown in negotiations, news site BBC reports.

Salkida has since refused to reveal the names of the remaining girls, saying that the Nigerian government is supposed to do so.

Meanwhile, a government spokesperson has told the BBC that there is no reason to believe that some of the girls are dead, as the government is still in talks with Boko Haram to have them released.

The girls were sleeping in their dormitories in the Chibok town in northeastern Nigeria when Boko Haram terrorists carrying AK-47 rifles stormed into the school and seized them.

The unfortunate incident sparked global outrage and united activists around the world, including former United States first lady Michelle Obama, using the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls.

It also brought the world’s attention to the activities of Boko Haram, an Islamist group which does not want to have anything to do with western culture, particularly, western education.

The group has so far killed more than 20,000 people and other two million people have been forced to flee their homes in an insurgency that started in 2009 aimed at creating an Islamic state.