john mellencamp, everybody. thank you very much.good night. "nightline." bring back our girls. the stolen speak. >> tonight, boko haram terror. the missing girls. the world cannot forget. we go to the front lines in africa tonight. >> we're loading up to go further north to a jihadi hot bed looking for the stolen girls and thousands of others taken, some into sexual slavery. >> these guys show up and say i have a choice. i'm going to kill you or you can marry me. >> carrying a bible or going to school can be a death warrant. children not just victims but weapons, suicide bombers. new details about the tactics used by the terrorists who pledge their allegiance to isis. and the search for the girls brings us to home.

young women in hiding right here in america, educating themselves an act of defiance. >> bring back our girls, the stolen speak will be right back.

this is a special edition of night line. bring back our girls, the stolen speak.

>> good evening. so glad you're joining us as we embark on an extraordinary journey to the front lines of a jihadi battle ground in africa. it's been two years since boko haram stole nearly 300 teenage girls from their school and the hash tag "bring back our girls" came. since then thousands more kidnapped and some managed to speak out about what they saw. new details of children now being used as decide bombers. up close tonight inside a haunting mystery. >> reporter: flanked by a team of u.s. special ops and nigerian air support we're loading up into armored vehicles to go north. we're heading for the front lines against the battle of african jihad. >> it's an our our diplomatic

security refers to as an unstable situation. this is boko haram territory. they made themselves known to the world two years ago. kidnapping nearly 3 00 girls from their school in a nigerian town. >> i abducted your girls. i'll sell them in the market. >> it's a tragedy. it's a tragedy that young women are kidnapped. >> reporter: the mass abduction triggered global outrage and a campaign, "bring back our girls". >> this act was committed by a terrorist group determined to keep these girls from getting an education. >> reporter: though some managed to escape. >> they said if we run, or shout, they'll shoot all of us. >> reporter: most are still missing. and so are thousands of other women and children also kidnapped. which is why we're traveling with the u.s. ambassador to the u.n.

she's here to refocus on the kidnapping. our first stop, this home to people fleeing from the terror. tens of thousands of children live here, eager to show off their families but not this teenager. she's asked us not to show her face. she still fears for her life. >> how old were you when boko haram came? >> she says she was 14 when she was forced to marry a boko haram fighter. >> translator: sometimes when women flee the men they were married to, they catch them and slaughter them. >> tell me your reaction. >> what is there to say? i mean, you're a 14-year-old girl in your village. these guys show up and they say hey, i have a choice for you. i'm going to kill you or you can marry me. she feels that was a choice? that wasn't a choice.

they didn't give her a choice. it's left her with shame. all she carries with her at least that she conveyed was a sense that she made the wrong choice. >> reporter: even after being rescued and returned to their families, they face stigma from their communities. >> they destroy us and destroy life. >> when you talk to these kids, they have the same story. their families were driven out of their villages often witnessing their parents be killed and then fleeing for days into the forest before arriving in a camp like this. >> reporter: we hear heart breaking stories of sexual slavery, forgsed morsed marriages, forced conversions and senseless killings. >> translator: they showed a gun and said whoever holds the bible, we slaughter them, and whoever goes to church gets the same thing. >> reporter: this woman tells us how six fighters slit her father's throat and cut out his tongue before her eyes. children like these are not just

victims. they're now being used as weapons. boko haram turning kidnapped boys and girls into suicide bombers. often the reporting treats it like it's willingly strapping on the belt and reading the koran and deciding this is what they did. this is what consent looked like when you're 14. there's reports of 8-year-old suicide bombers and it's being treated as if they're willful. >> reporter: they are brainwashed into thinking it's a direct path to god or coerced or drugged or remotely detonated. of the 151 suicide attacks in the region last year, one in five were children and 75% of those bombers were girls. turning women and children once seen as innocent into potential threats. >> many don't know what they're carrying. >> reporter: the african generals waging this war have

pushed boko haram back, but at this security briefing we learned the terror group is using new tools and tactics from suicide belts to a new kind of ied. birds being used as bombs, and boko haram recently pledged allegiance to isis. >> they share procedures and you can see it by the way they conduct their attacks. >> reporter: u.s. troops are not fighting here, but they are advising and sharing intelligence in the search for the missing girls. >> lined up against a yellow wall, 15 girls. >> reporter: cnn recently obtain third down so-called proof of life video that purports to show some of the girls alive. though authorities are skeptical about the video, it's sparking renewed vigor. the wildly held theory is they're alive but separated living in a forest, a stronghold of boko haram. we'll hear more about that later. first, we're on our way to the

capital of nigeria. this morning we're driving a couple miles outside of the city center. these camps are a strange purgatory. there's signs of people trying to create a semblance of their past lives. here are your children's shoes. that's good storage. nice to meet you. where are you going? this is a mother of eight and gives me a tour of her modest two room shack. she yerks -- she, her husband and six of her eight children sleep on the floor here. she tells us her family used to be able to farm for themselves. now she says they have to rely on charity. where are you going by yourself with your beans and yams? is this where you live? [ singing in foreign language ]

>> reporter: hear the nursery students is not just heart warming. it's an act of defiance. it means western education is sinful, boko haram. so far they've destroyed 900 schools, targeted and killed 600 teachers according to human rights watch. many of these students were just toddlers. when their families were forced on a trek for days. no food or water through the mountains to safety. do you think these children will grow up to fight boko haram? >> they will fight boko haram when they are grown up, yes. >> reporter: suddenly, a phone call. an urgent update about two women we've been planning to meet. both say they managed to escape boko haram. we just got word one of the women who was supposed to come down who was pregnant, she died.

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it is almost entirely preventable. most colon cancers start as polyps. and screening finds polyps, so they can be removed, before they even turn into cancer. if you're over 50, get screened for colorectal cancer. screening saves lives. >> reporter: we've just received tragic news about one of the women we were planning to meet who escaped boko haram. we just got word one of the women who was supposed to come down who was pregnant she died in premature labor. she ran away seven months pregnant. how can that be? how does that happen. her name was husana. >> it happens all the time.

>> reporter: is the remaining come still going to come? >> yeah. she's willing to come. >> reporter: i just need a minute. when we finally get to meet the other woman, she is still grieving for her friend. they were held in captivity by boko haram together. have you seen the baby yet? this is the baby. this is the first time she is seeing the baby. she says villagers call it the boko baby. his given name is muhammad. the moment passes. i asked her what should happen to boko haram, and she says kill them all so we may have peace. creating a good future for babies like this is at the heart of the mission. you see so many children who

talk about dreaming of being educated. boko haram says their main objective is to stop western education. and this is a situation where all the children want to do is learn. power brings news that the u.s. is pledging to give more aid. >> try to make things better together. >> reporter: but endless hours of diplomacy could be overshadowed by a single moment, a 7-year-old boy chasing the security helicopters, we're told, darted into the road. one of the armored cars ahead of us hits him head on. i see his limp body in the middle of the road. we've just gotten word that the young child hit has passed away. power later offers her personal condolences to the family. while we wait the villagers stare down our convoy, anger mixed with helplessness. >> i think the worst day of my

professional life. what can you say? you come here to try to help, to try somehow to offer words of condolences to the parents. the hardest thing i've ever done. the mother's face will stay in my dreams forever. >> these are waning days. how does this fit into the larger -- >> the bright shiny object is the military tool in governments that think that at a time of terror that they can crack down and that's what you've got to do because it's terrorism, that ends up fuelling the recruitment. >> mary madu. naomi detruse. >> it's been two years since 30

0 schoolgirls were taken. 219 are still missing. >> elizabeth joseph. victoria william. >> reporter: early on, some managed a daring escape. >> there is not my real name. i use it for protection, and i'm one of the girls that escaped. >> reporter: she and eight others are now here studying in the united states. their code names and sunglasses their way of protecting themselves while in public. >> school was great until one day when the boko haram came in unexpected. >> reporter: they say men with guns broke in and started yelling that they knew about the education they were getting. >> and all that said, everybody already knew they are boko haram. they have guns. they said if we run or we shout, they're going to shoot all of us. they start burning our clothes,

our books, and everything. >> reporter: they both say the fighters led them into the forest where they loaded them onto trucks. >> i was thinking since they're here, they're taking us somewhere. i'm going to die. >> reporter: so both girls made the life or death decision to jump. >> i said god help me. i wanted to jump, maybe, maybe not. >> i would rather fall down out of the truck and die than to go with them, because if i died here, my parents might have my body and bury it. >> reporter: after a night hiding from boko haram in the it took a lot of convincing to get her to come study here. >> they said if we go to school anywhere and they find out they'll kill us and our family. i told her i'm not going to school anymore. i'm done with school. >> now both girls are studying in the u.s. and looking for the future. they miss their families they left behind. >> i know i'm safe here and okay, but it's not safe for my family back there in nigeria.

>> reporter: their loved ones are okay for now, and when we were in nigeria we tracked down blessing's father who sent us back with a message for the daughter he hasn't seen in over a year. >> give her a message. i want her to be a doctor. and be serious and study. >> is your daughter a strong person? >> she's a strong woman. >> reporter: he said you're a strong woman. are you? >> i hope so. >> they say they must be strong for their friends who are still missing. the newly released proof of life video triggering a lot of emotions. >> they're my classmates. i was just crying. i just wish i could talk to them. we still love them, and we're hoping that the government will do something about it and try to go and rescue them. >> i just wanted to tell the world that we'll never forget about those girls that are in the captivity. >> they are no longer just children from nigeria.

they are global citizens. >> reporter: in nigeria the new president brought renewed hope in the search for the missing girls. but while the world awaits their homecoming, perhaps the best revenge against boko haram is an education. you guys are awesome. back in a moment with a few personal reflections on our trip to africa that we'll never forget. this special edition of "nightline" is brought to you by red lobster. how are you supposed to choose one? simple. you don't. at red lobster's create your own seafood trios, you get to pick 3 of 9 all-new creations for just $15.99. and with this many new flavors trust me, you'll be glad you can try three. like creamy baked lobster alfredo and grilled chimichurri shrimp and panko-crusted crab cakes bursting with crabmeat. because some choices are hard,

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finally, on this special night, we want to share with you a few lasting impressions of our journey to africa. i've heard boko haram described as a two bit terror group and yet they've displaced more than 1 million children.

burning villages, destroying lives. they managed to kill more civilians than isis last year. but everywhere we traveled when i look into the faces of these children, i see my own children. [ singing in foreign language ] >> reporter: smiling, laughing, but as one translator says, not laughing on the inside. which makes me marvel even more at their independence. where are you going by yourself with your beans and yams? i saw her walk all the way across the camp by herself. their dignity, and the overused word here at home, resilience. bye bye. >> bye bye. >> reporter: and my thanks to tonight to our team of producers and editors. especially the fearless katie

yew and clark benson. a a band of sisters j jenna, ashley, michelle and rocks. as always, we're online at abcnews.com and on our facebook page. good night, america.