Nigeria Parents Say Boko Haram Video Confirms Worst 'Fears'

Nigerian parents on Tuesday said their worst fears about their daughters' fates had been confirmed after Boko Haram, which kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls last month, threatened to sell the hostages as "slaves."

Abubakar Shekau, who leads the Islamist group which has killed thousands in a five-year uprising, claimed responsibility for the shocking mass abduction on April 14 in the Chibok area of northeastern Borno state.

In a video message obtained by AFP on Monday, Shekau said his group was holding the girls as "slaves" and would "sell (them) in the market".

"All along, we have been imagining what could happen to our daughters in the hands of these heinous people," Lawal Zanna, whose daughter is among the hostages, told AFP by phone from Chibok.

"Now Shekau has confirmed our fears," he said.

Global outrage, initially slow to emerge, has been building, including calls by U.S. senators for Washington to intervene.

"We cannot close our eyes to the clear evidence of barbarity unfolding before us in Nigeria," said Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar, her voice breaking as she addressed the Senate on Monday.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague on Tuesday called the kidnappings "disgusting" and said London was offering Nigeria "practical help" to secure the girls' release.

"The actions of Boko Haram in using girls as the spoils of war, the spoils of terrorism is disgusting, it is immoral," Hague told reporters in Vienna, where he was attending a meeting of the Council of Europe.

"It should show everybody across the world that they should not give any support to such a vile organization," he added.

Hague said Britain was offering "practical help" to Nigeria, but did not expand further. He said the matter had first and foremost to be dealt with by the Nigerian authorities.

And the United Nations warned that the sale of the girls could be a crime against humanity.

"We are deeply concerned about the outrageous claims made in a video believed to be by the leader of Boko Haram in Nigeria yesterday, in which he brazenly says he will sell the abducted schoolgirls 'in the market' and 'marry them off', referring to them as 'slaves,'" said Rupert Colville, spokesman for U.N. rights chief Navi Pillay.

"We condemn the violent abduction of these girls," Colville told reporters.

"We warn the perpetrators that there is an absolute prohibition against slavery and sexual slavery in international law. These can, under certain circumstances, constitute crimes against humanity. The girls must be immediately returned, unharmed, to their families," he said.

Pillay has written to Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan urging his government to spare no effort to bring the girls home safely and to protect children's rights overall.

During a visit to Nigeria earlier this year, Pillay described the actions of Boko Haram as "increasingly monstrous."

A total of 276 students were kidnapped three weeks ago when Boko Haram stormed their school under the cover of darkness and loaded them onto trucks. Several managed to escape but over 220 girls were still being held, according to police.

Since the attack, parents have criticized the military's rescue mission, saying there had been a lack of urgency from the outset.

The military said it had launched a major search operation, including in the Sambisa Forest area of Borno, where Boko Haram has well fortified camps.

The U.S. State Department said there were indications the girls had been moved into neighboring countries, echoing unconfirmed reports from local leaders in Chibok who claimed the hostages had been sold as brides to Islamist fighters in Cameroon and Chad.

Enoch Mark, an outspoken government critic since his daughter was kidnapped, said the military was still not doing nearly enough.

"Boko Haram are not spirits or extra-terrestrial creatures that cannot be tracked and subdued," he told AFP by phone.

"The government should find our girls or seek international assistance if it cannot," he added. "The agony and trauma are becoming too much for us parents to bear."

Pressure on Jonathan has been building since the kidnapping, which came hours after a car bombing ripped through a crowded bus station on the outskirts of the capital killing 75 people, the deadliest attack ever in the capital.

A copy-cat bombing at the same station killed 19 people on May 1.

Jonathan had hoped that a World Economic Forum summit which opens in Abuja on Wednesday would highlight Nigeria's economic progress.

But the recent violence has put public focus on Boko Haram, with many questioning whether Nigeria has the capacity to contain the insurgents who have killed thousands since 2009.

The group, which says it wants to create an Islamic state in mainly Muslim northern Nigeria, has vowed to carryout further attacks across the country, including in the Niger Delta, home to Africa's largest oil industry.

Mark warned the government that failing to rescue his daughter and her classmates could serve to embolden the Islamist extremists.

"The government should note that this may just be the beginning of more abductions and anarchy if it does not rescue these girls," he said.

"It is Chibok today, but who knows where it will happen tomorrow? It may not end with Chibok."