Will Boko Haram release schoolgirls?

ABUJA, Nigeria, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- A cease-fire agreement between the Government of Nigeria and Boko Haram that was announced by Abuja on Friday reportedly included a promise by the militant group to release more than 200 schoolgirls abducted six months earlier.

The Nigerian government indicated the missing girls, whose abduction spawned the #BringBackOurGirls social media campaign, could be released as early as Monday.

Hope faded over the weekend, however, when suspected Boko Haram militants violated the newly signed cease-fire agreement, attacking the Borno state village of Shaffa and the village of Waga in Adamawa state, killing residents and abducting others.

Thursday's agreement was reportedly brokered by self-proclaimed Boko Haram representative Danladi Ahmadu, who issued a statement on Friday that read, in part:

"On the girls that we took from Chibok, all that we want before we free the girls is to get justice from the Nigerian state because there are many of our members that their business premises were destroyed, some killed and others in detention and many other oppression. ...

"Regarding the cease fire, we are talking and it will continue when some people deeply involved are back from their trips. We are discussing with Nigerian government and it is one Hassan that is leading the team.
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"He is directly working with Nigerian President and we will continue talking when our own people return. When it is clear the girls will be free and the world will see."

Ahmadu's claim of affiliation with Boko Haram is now in question. Ahmad Salkida, a Nigerian journalists with Boko Haram contacts rejects Ahmadu's role in Boko Haram as "bogus" and considers him an "imposter."

There has been no other comment attributed to Boko Haram in response to the cease-fire announcement.

Boko Haram began a campaign of terrorism in Nigeria in 2009, attempting to create an Islamic state and to deny Western-style education. Thousands of people have been killed, mostly in northeastern Nigeria since the attacks began. The United States declared it a terrorist group in 2013.