The embattled leader of jihadist group Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, resurfaced in a video posted online Sunday, rejecting assertions by the Nigerian army that he had been seriously wounded.
“You have been spreading in the social media that you injured or killed me,” Shekau said in the 40-minute video released on YouTube and dated September 25.
“Oh tyrants, I’m in a happy state, in good health and in safety.”
The Nigerian army said on August 23 that the long-time militant chief had been seriously wounded in the shoulder in an air raid in which several commanders were killed.
Nigerian authorities have reported him dead several times before, but the army’s latest claim was bolstered when Boko Haram — which pledged allegiance last year to the Islamic State (IS) group — released a video on September 13 without Shekau in it.
However, in the video released Sunday, Shekau points to a date on an Islamic calendar corresponding to September 25, 2016.
Speaking in Hausa, Arabic and English and in dialects spoken in northeast Nigeria he appeared to be in good physical health.
He used the video to issue threats against President Muhammadu Buhari, who appealed to the United Nations this week for help in negotiating the release of the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped by the militants more than two years ago.
“If you want your girls, bring back our brethren,” Shekau said.
But the Nigerian Army has said that Shekau is insane.
The Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman, said in an electronic mail on Sunday that the video released by the sect on Sunday confirmed the suspicion that Shekau had become mentally sick.
Usman said the appearance of Shekau in the video in which he tried to deny the aerial attack on his hideout during which he was wounded only confirmed that he was close to his end.
The acting Army spokesman advised Nigerians to discountenance the content of the video as the military was making sustained efforts to clear the remnants of the insurgents and rescue all captives including the Chibok girls.
“The attention of the Nigerian Army has been drawn to a video clip released by the so-called Abubakar Shekau faction of the remnants of the Boko Haram terrorists group this morning.
“In it, the purported leader of the group, in his usual insane manner, made all sorts of assertions to the point of threatening various towns, groups and individuals.
“He also tried albeit failingly to deny the air raid by the Nigerian Air Force in which he was wounded.
“The video has shown beyond all reasonable doubt the earlier suspicion that the purported factional terrorists group leader is mentally sick and unstable. The ranting is also another sign that the end is near for him which is part of the signs of all wicked people.
“The Nigerian Army wishes to assure the public that they should not be bothered by the contents of the video clip. This is because the facts on the ground speak for themselves. It is public knowledge that the military has been making concerted efforts to clear the remnants of the terrorists and to rescue all persons held hostage by them especially the abducted Chibok secondary schoolgirls.”
He said the military was determined to ensure that Boko Haram was stopped no matter how long it would take.
He stressed that the Army had already released thousands of captives from the insurgent group.
He assured the residents of Maiduguri, Kano, Kaduna and Zaria of the readiness of the military to defend them and to deal with the Boko Haram’s threat. – Punch.
