Elusive Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, has denied claims by the
Nigerian military that it has gained the upper-hand in its
counter-offensive against the insurgents, saying talks of success by
Nigerian security forces are “lies”.
The acting director of army public relations, Col. Sani Usman on
Saturday said troops destroyed more rebel enclaves and camps in the
restive state of Borno, which has been worst hit by the six-year
insurgency.
“The fight against the terrorists in the northeast is gaining successful
momentum, with most of the camps falling to the Federal might”, he said
in a statement.
Nigeria’s military has claimed a series of successes against Boko Haram
recently and on Friday said it had rescued 90 people and dislodged Boko
Haram from two villages near Gwoza.
The tempo in the counter-insurgency war gained momentum with President
Muhammadu Buhari giving the service chiefs three months to bring the
six-year bloody campaign that has left at least 15,000 dead and more
than two million homeless, to an end.
However, Shekau said in a 25-minute recording in Hausa and Arabic via
social media: “They (the military) lied that they have confiscated our
arms, that we have been chased out of our territories that we are in
disarray.
“We are alive, I am alive, this is my voice, more audible than it was before. This is Shekau”.
He added: “Buhari is a liar and has deceived you. The army spokesman is
also lying. He and his foot soldiers always run helter-skelter whenever
we come face to face with them…
“Buhari, you once claimed that you will crush us in three months. How can you crush us?”
The Boko Haram leader also directly refers to IS group leader Abu Bakr
Al-Baghdadi, to whom he says he is “loyal and subservient”.
He also drops the name of IS spokesman Abu-Mohammed al-Adnani and sends
“greetings to the faithful in Yemen”, where there is also an IS
“affiliate”.
As is with most propaganda materials released by Boko Haram, there was
no indication of where or when the recording was made but it appears to
have been in recent days.
Source: AFP
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