More than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by the Nigerian terror group Boko Haram have all converted to Islam and been "married off", according to its leader.
The video message by Abubakar Shekau contradicts claims by Nigeria's government that the students would soon be freed.
He also denied agreeing to any ceasefire with the authorities.
Laughing, he said: "The issue of the girls is long forgotten because I have long ago married them off.
"In this war, there is no going back."
More than 270 students were taken from a boarding school in the in the remote northeastern town of Chibok in April, prompting a high-profile political and social media campaign using the hashtag #Bring Back Our Girls.
Dozens of the girls escaped on their own in the first couple of days, but 219 remain missing.
Those who managed to flee have have described the physical torture, rape and forced marriage that many endure in the group's secret forest camps.
Shekau's denial of the ceasefire appears supported by the violence that has continued since the government announced it two weeks ago.
As well as raising doubts about the actual influence of Danladi Ahmadu - the man with whom the government has been negotiating - and will further undermine the authority of President Goodluck Jonathan, who is seeking re-election in February.
The five-year-old insurgency by Boko Haram has killed thousands of people and driven hundreds of thousands from their homes in northeast Nigeria.
The group poses the biggest threat to the security of Africa's biggest economy and top oil producer.
Boko Haram has attacked targets almost every day for weeks and recently seized control of Mubi, the home town of Nigeria's defence chief Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, who had announced the ceasefire.
The government has blamed the violence on Boko Haram's allied criminal networks that the group cannot control.
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Gallery: Profile: Boko Haram Leader
Abubakar Shekau is the leader of Boko Haram. He took control of the Islamist group after the death of founder Mohammed Yusuf in 2009.
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Little is known about him, although he was born in Shekau village in the northeastern state of Yobe and is now thought to be in his early 40s.
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Shekau is Nigeria's most-wanted man and was designated a terrorist by the U.S. government in 2012. A reward of $7m (£4.6m) and 50m Nigerian naira (£182,000) has been issued for information leading to his location.
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Shekau is also known as "Darul Tawheed", a reference to his knowledge of an orthodox doctrine of Islam centred on the oneness of Allah.
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Nigerian authorities thought he had been killed in 2009 during clashes with security forces, but he reappeared in a video in 2010 to claim leadership of Boko Haram.
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Shekau is believed to have been behind the August 2011 bombing of the UN compound in the capital Abuja, which killed at least 21 people.
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In a video released after the abduction of 276 girls from a boarding school in the village of Chibok on April 14, he described the youngsters as "slaves" and threatened to "sell them in the market".
There are believed to be several competing factions within the group.
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