Leader of Nigeria's Boko Haram says abducted schoolgirls will be...

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Boko Haram claimed on Monday responsibility for the abduction of hundreds of schoolgirls in northern Nigeria.

The Islamist group's leader Abubakar Shekau said in a 57-minute video obtained by AFP: "I abducted your girls," referring to the 276 students kidnapped from their school in Chibok, Borno state, on April 14.

According to the video, Abubakar Shekau said he would "sell on the market" more than 200 schoolgirls abducted by his fighters last month.

State police said last Friday that 53 of the girls managed to escape from the militants but 223 were still being held.

The abduction of the girls has led to growing international outrage and demands for an immediate rescue mission. It has also sparked protests, which have led Nigerian authorities to arrest the leader of a march last week in the capital Abuja that called on them to do more, a presidency source and another organizer of the protest said on Monday.

The police spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the arrest, but the presidency source said Naomi Mutah Nyadar had been detained for allegedly and falsely claiming to be the mother of one of the missing girls.

Nyadar was picked up late on Sunday after a meeting she and other campaigners had held with President Goodluck Jonathan's wife, Patience, concerning the girls.

She was taken to Asokoro police station, near the presidential villa, said fellow protester Lawan Abana, whose two nieces are among the abductees. Nigeria's government is becoming increasingly nervous about security for the World Economic Forum (WEF) for Africa, an annual gathering of the rich and powerful to be held in Abuja this week for the first time.

The girls' abductions have been hugely embarrassing for the government ahead of the WEF, which was supposed to focus attention on the growth potential of Africa's biggest economy but threatens to be overshadowed by the girls and by Nigeria's mounting security woes.

REUTERS

Leader of Nigeria's Boko Haram says abducted schoolgirls will be sold