( CNN ) Boko Haram laughed off Nigeria 's announcement of a ceasefire agreement , saying there is no such deal and schoolgirls abducted in April have been converted to Islam and married off . Nigerian officials announced two weeks ago that they had struck a deal with the Islamist terror group . The deal , the government said , included the release of more than 200 girls whose kidnapping at a boarding school in the nation 's north stunned the world . In a video released Saturday , the Islamist group 's notorious leader fired off a series of denials . `` Do n't you know the over 200 Chibok schoolgirls have converted to Islam ? '' Abubakar Shekau said . `` They have now memorized two chapters of the Quran . '' Shekau slammed reports of their planned release . `` We married them off . They are in their marital homes , '' he said , chuckling . The group 's leader also denied knowing the negotiator with whom the government claimed it worked out a deal , saying he does not represent Boko Haram . `` We will not spare him and will slaughter him if we get him , '' he said of the negotiator . It was n't clear when the video was made . Mike Omeri , a government spokesman , said these assertions contradict those made in the group 's talks with the Nigerian government . Omeri said the government will do everything possible to verify the claims made in the video . `` We 've heard about the video , and we can say the road to peace is bumpy -- and you can not expect otherwise , '' Omeri said . `` Nigeria has been fighting a war , and wars do n't end overnight . '' Nigeria said officials met with Boko Haram in Chad twice during talks mediated by Chadian President Idriss Deby . The ceasefire deal announced on October 17 followed a month of negotiations with representatives of the group , said Hassan Tukur , an aide to Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan . After the deal was announced , the aide said final negotiations on the girls ' release would be completed at a meeting a week later in Chad . That day passed without any signs of the girls . Boko Haram a growing challenge . In the video , Shekau talked not of peace but of more violence -- promising more `` war , striking and killing with gun . '' This strategy appears to be playing out in parts of Nigeria , where Boko Haram fighters have continued deadly attacks on villages despite government claims of a ceasefire . More people have been abducted and scores killed in recent weeks , including one attack a day after the ceasefire that left eight dead . Days later , the Islamist terror group abducted at least 60 young women and girls from Christian villages in northeast Nigeria . Heavily armed fighters left 1,500 naira , or about $ 9 , and kola nuts as a bride price for each of the women abducted , residents said . For its part , Nigeria is n't backing down . It is stepping up its military campaign against militants and criminals in some parts of the West African nation , Nigeria 's defense ministry said Saturday . The military said its airstrikes and ground operations have repelled attacks against civilians in Adamawa and Borno , two states in the northeast that have been strongholds and frequent targets for Boko Haram . Officials are `` studying '' the latest video , even as the military continues to recognize the talks aimed at assuring the release of the kidnapped schoolgirls , the ministry said . Boko Haram , whose name translates to `` Western education is sin '' in the Hausa language , is trying to impose strict Sharia law across Nigeria , which is split between a majority Muslim north and a mostly Christian south . Like ISIS , it has ambitions for a caliphate , or religious state . The group 's attacks have intensified in recent years in an apparent show of defiance for the nation 's military onslaught . Its ambitions appear to have expanded to the destruction of the government . As part of its insurgency , it has bombed schools , churches and mosques , kidnapped women and children , and assassinated politicians and religious leaders alike . CNN 's Isha Sesay , Lillian Leposo , Christabelle Fombu , Greg Botelho and Nana Karikari-apau contributed to this report .
`` The road to peace is bumpy , '' Nigerian official says after video 's release . Boko Haram 's leader says no ceasefire deal , despite Nigeria 's announcement . `` We married them off , '' the leader , Abubakar Shekau , says of the abducted girls . Video claims contradict those assertions made in talks , a Nigerian official says .