Abubakar Shekau--- I’m not dead

 

               Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has shown up again in a video, boasting and yelling as usual.

He said he was not killed, contrary to what the military said.

But the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) yesterday said it was all lies and propaganda.

It insisted that the impostor claiming to be Shekau had been killed in the battle of Konduga in Borno State.

The DHQ,  in a statement issued in Abuja, said it was still studying the video.

It said: “The Defence Headquarters is studying the claims made in the video purportedly released by the terrorists showing their leader Abubakar Shekau as dismissing his death.

“From immediate observation and what some online news outlets claimed to have seen, the video did not indicate when it was shot, neither did it show any proof of life or currency such as screen time or date.

“The video also did not make any reference to anything that has happened since the impostor’s reported death.

“It is also noteworthy that the air plane said to be mentioned in the video had been missing before he was killed.

“It should not surprise anybody if the terrorists decide to manipulate pictures, clone another Shekau or upload a pre-recorded video, all in a bid to prove invincible.

“As far as we are concerned, the individual who was appearing in video and claiming to be the leader of the terrorist group was killed in the Kondunga battle in September.

“The resemblance of the corpse and that of the eccentric character was incontrovertible. His identity was equally corroborated by people who knew him before we announced his death.”

While still conducting thorough investigation into the new claims in the purprted video, the military promised that justice will be served to whoever bears that name or designation and whoever engages in act.”

In the 36-minute video, a man claiming to be Shekau appeared, contradicting the military’s reports that he was killed.

Screen grabs of the video, seen by Reuters, show a figure in boots and combat fatigues who looks similar to the man claiming to be Shekau in previous videos.

“Here I am, alive. I will only die the day Allah takes my breath,” he says in Hausa language, reported the French News Agency (AFP), which normally receives Boko Haram tapes first, before they are distributed online.

The military said last week that the man who had been posing as Shekau in the group’s growing number of videos had been killed in clashes over the town of Konduga.

The military announced the death of Shekau himself a year ago, saying he had died in battle.

After that, the man appearing in videos as Shekau did look different from before, with a wider nose, less defined bridge and a rounder face.

In the most recent video, Shekau says “nothing will kill me until my days are over … Some people asked you if Shekau has two souls. No, I have one soul, by Allah,” AFP said.

Boko Haram, whose violent five-year campaign for an Islamic state has killed thousands, has in the past two months progressed from bombings, raids and kidnappings to trying to seize territory.

In the video, the Shekau figure declared the remote areas they control near Cameroon as “Muslim territory”, echoing the declaration of a caliphate by militants in Iraq and Syria.

Bellicose as ever, Shekau stands on the back of a pick-up truck, firing an anti-aircraft gun into the air. The video also shows people being stoned to death and being given lashes, both traditional Islamic punishments.

The video also shows Boko Haram fighters picking through the wreckage of an aircraft they claim to have shot down. The DHQ is still looking for a an Air Force jet that went missing more than two weeks ago.

“Standing in front of three camouflaged vans and flanked by four heavily armed, masked fighters, he then speaks for 16 minutes in Arabic and the Hausa language widely spoken in Northern Nigeria.

“There was no indication of where or when the video was shot. Shekau appears in separate images from the violence.

“The heavily bearded Shekau, who appeared to be the same man as those in previous clips, said the military’s claim that he was dead was propaganda.

AFP said: “Boko Haram has shown images of extreme violence before but the latest video shows at length graphic scenes of an amputation and a stoning to death as well as a beheading.

“It also purports to show the wreckage of a Nigerian Air Force jet that went missing in the northeast on September 11. Boko Haram said its fighters shot it down but the military denied the claim.

“Elsewhere in the new video, the militant leader said the group had implemented strict Islamic law in the towns that it had captured in the northeast in recent weeks.

“We are running our caliphate, our Islamic caliphate. We follow the Koran… We now practise the injunctions of the Koran in the land of Allah,” he said.

“The video showed footage of a man being stoned to death for adultery, another having his right hand cut off at the wrist for theft and a man and a woman receiving 100 lashes for sex out of wedlock.

“Crowds of men, women and children are seen watching the punishments.

There was again no indication of when or where the images were shot but on August 21, residents who fled the Borno town of Buni Yadi reported that the group had carried out summary executions.

“The scenes of graphic violence are not unprecedented but come as other groups in the wider jihadi network, particularly Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq, have issued similar footage.

“In a Boko Haram video obtained on August 24, footage showed the apparent execution of about 20 men captured in the Borno town of Gwoza and two others beaten to death with rocks and pick-axes.

“On the Air Force jet, Boko Haram fighters are seen apparently picking through the wreckage of the downed Alpha aircraft and the military’s green and white logo is clearly visible.

But Air Force spokesman,  air Commodore Dele Alonge told AFP: “Our plane went missing some weeks back and we are still looking for it.

“For any group to claim they shot it down is mere propaganda and rubbish.”

It was gathered yesterday that President Goodluck Jonathan convened a meeting of the Security Council.

It was learnt that the session was to “re-appraise the security situation in the country, including the North-East, Nasarawa, Plateau and Ekiti states”.

An hour before the meeting started, Shekau’s video was released.

A top source said: “With the release of the video by Boko Haram, there was no way the council will not discuss the latest development.

“All I know is that immediately the video was released, intelligence and military experts started analysing it vis-a-vis the information at the disposal of the military about two weeks ago when Shekau was declared killed in encounters with troops.

“We are studying the clip, we will not rush into judgment. At the appropriate time, the military will react to Shekau’s latest claim through our usual channels.”