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Boko Haram rejects truce with government
The leader of Boko Haram has denied reports that the Islamic group had reached a cease-fire agreement with the Nigerian government and would release more than 200 abducted schoolgirls. Rather, he said the girls had converted to Islam and been married off since they were kidnapped earlier this year.
"The issue of the girls is long forgotten because I have long ago married them off," Abubakar Shekau said in a video released Friday, adding, "there is no going back."
Two weeks ago, the Nigerian government said it had struck a truce with Boko Haram that included the release of the schoolgirls, who were kidnapped in April.