Boko Haram reportedly offers to trade 200 kidnapped girls for the release of militant leaders

Nigeria's Boko Haram has reportedly offered to free more than 200 girls who were kidnapped from a boarding school in Chibok, a human rights activist told The Associated Press. In exchange, the militant group demanded Nigeria release Boko Haram detainees, a demand that's consistent with one the militant group made last year. However, the 5-week-old administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has offered the group a "clean slate" during negotiations.

The 274 young women and girls were taken by Boko Haram in April 2014, spurring worldwide "Bring Back Our Girls" protests. In May 2014, Boko Haram released a video in which its leader, Abubakar Shekau, vowed, "You won't see the girls again unless you release our brothers you have captured." In the footage, the mostly-Christian girls are shown in hijabs, reciting from the Quran, and are thought to have converted to Islam.

Last spring, 300 women and girls were released by Boko Haram, but none were from the Chibok kidnapping. Shekau has since said the Chibok students were "an old story," and that he married them off to his fighters. However, the Chibok girls are believed to be a last-ditch bargaining chip of sorts for Boko Haram to attempt to get their way. The recent mass murders in Nigeria — which have left over 350 dead — are thought to additionally be a way for the extremist group to try to seek a stronger negotiating position, Fred Eno, a Nigerian negotiator, told the AP.

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