Boko Haram: Army Refutes Shekau’s Claims In New Video

***Advices Sect To Surrender

The Nigerian Military has refuted the claims of the alleged leader of the Boko Haram insurgents in a recent video describing them as barefaced lies.

In the video, Shekau who was said to have been killed in Konduga last month by Nigerian military, did not only debunk reports by the military that he was dead but said members of his sect were running a Caliphate in the captured towns in north east of Nigeria.

In the 36-minute video, Shekau, who was said to have appeared to be the same as in previous video clips, said report of his death was propaganda by the military.

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Shekau in the video obtained and reported by AFP, said, “Here I am, alive. I will only die the day Allah takes my breath. Nothing will kill me until my days are over. I’m still alive. Some people asked you if Shekau has two souls. No, I have one soul, by Allah. 

“It is propaganda that is prevalent. I have one soul. I’m an Islamic student.

“I’m the Islamic student whose seminary you burnt… I’m not dead.” He spoke in apparent reference to the destruction of the group’s mosque in the Borno State capital, Maiduguri, in 2009.

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

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In his reaction, the Acting Director, Army Public Relations (Ag. DAPR), Col. Sani Usman, said that it is only those that are not in tune with the reality on ground that would believe the barefaced lies contained in the message, supposedly relayed by the leader of the sect.

According to him, “it is also an insult on the institution of the Nigerian Army for anyone to think that its trained and well-motivated troops will run from the insurgents. Running from where to where and when? It is an insult for anybody to believe that.

“It is the reaction of a drowning man. My advice to the terrorists is that they should lay down their arms and surrender. It would be in their interest to do that.”

Meanwhile, in a statement released on Saturday, Colonel Usman said that the Boko Haram terrorists are fleeing their camps, abandoning their vehicles and food items at Kotambe Kote and Jere axis, Borno State.

The statement read: “The military offensive against the Boko Haram terrorists is becoming more unbearable on them as they flee their camps abandoning vehicles, flags and foodstuffs at Kotambe Kote and Jere axis.

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“In a related development, troops of 101 Battalion along with members of Nigeria Police Explosive Ordinance Device (EOD) team, today successfully detonated two bicycles laden with primed improvised explosive devices at Awaisari village near Alou Dam.”

Earlier this year, President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the newly appointed service chiefs to eliminate insurgency in the Northeast.

In a renewed offensive against the terrorists, the troops have carried out numerous successful operations to include the rescue of captives, storming camps, blocking supplies, detonating bombs and arresting Boko Haram’s key figures amongst many others.a

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