DHAKA: Nigerian Islamist militant group Boko Haram has threatened to ‘sell’ the hundreds of schoolgirls it abducted three weeks ago.

Militant leader Abubakar Shekau sent a video obtained by media, in which he said for the first time that his group had taken the girls, reports the BBC.

About 230 girls are still believed to be missing, prompting widespread criticism of the Nigerian government.

The Boko Haram insurgency has left thousands dead since 2009.

The girls were taken from their school in Chibok, in the northern state of Borno, on the night of 14 April.

Boko Haram, which means ‘Western education is forbidden’ has staged numerous previous attacks on educational institutions in northern Nigeria.

In the video, Abubakar Shekau said the girls should not have been in school in the first place, but rather should get married.

‘God instructed me to sell them, they are his properties and I will carry out his instructions,’ he said.

However, BBC Hausa Service editor Mansur Liman points out that the Boko Haram leader did not state the number of girls abducted, nor where they were taken or are now.

Assurances from Nigeria president Goodluck Jonathan have done little to convince Nigerians of the government’s commitment to freeing the girls.

BDST: 2047 HRS, MAY 05, 2014