Despite
being declared a global terrorist and a $7million reward placed on him by the
United States (US), Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau is still talking tough.
Shekau, in a video yesterday, dared US President Barack Obama,
French President Francois Hollande and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu to come for him, saying: “They are no match for me.”
”In the video obtained by Agence France Presse (AFP), Shekau,
while claiming responsibility for the recent killings in some parts of the
North, said: “I’m challenging Obama.”
Throwing
similar challenges to Hollande and Netanyahu, he said he was in “good health”,
pointing out that there is nothing to fear from the military operation in some
parts of the Northeast.
The military campaign began after the Federal Government
declared a state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states on May 14.
“You have not killed Shekau,” he said in the video distributed
through a local intermediary in a similar manner to previous Boko Haram
messages.
Seated on a short stool with a kalashnikov resting on his right
shoulder, Shekau said Boko Haram was “responsible” for several deadly raids
over the past month.
These include attacks on the police and the military in Malam
Fatori and Bama, which sparked clashes in which at least 35 people died,
according to the military.
The video contained what Shekau claimed was a footage of Boko
Haram gunmen opening fire on the military in Bama, using heavy weapons mounted
on flat-bed trucks.
Shekau also referred to fighting in Baga and Gamboru Ngala near
the border with Cameroon.
The Boko Haram insurgency is estimated to have claimed more than
3,600 lives since 2009, including killings by security forces.
On May 12, Shekau claimed responsibility for attacks that left
scores dead in Baga and Bama in a 12-minute video which also showed some women
and children held hostage by the terror group.
Shekau, who spoke in Hausa in the video said: “We are the ones
that carried out the Bama attack. We also carried out the attack in Baga”.
In another video after the declaration of emergency in Borno,
Yobe and Adamawa states, the sect claimed to have recorded a few losses while
forcing the military to retreat on many occasions.
“Since we started this ongoing war which they call state of
emergency … in some instances soldiers who faced us turned and ran,” Shekau
said.
He claimed that the military threw down their arms in flight,
just as he urged like-minded Islamists in countries, such as Afghanistan,
Pakistan and Iraq to support the sect’s war towards enthroning an Islamic state
in Nigeria.
In January last year, after the Madalla bombing, Shekau in a
15-minute video, said the security agencies could not overcome his group.
Shekau rejected the government’s amnesty offer, saying the group
could only hold talks with the government in accordance with Islamic teachings.
Yesterday at the Presidential Villa, President Goodluck Jonathan
met with top security chiefs. Although no statement was issued after the
meeting, it is believed that the activities of Boko Haram topped the agenda.
At the meeting were National Security Adviser (NSA) Sambo
Dasuki, Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen Azubuike Ihejirika, Chief of Naval Staff
Vice Admiral Dele Ezeoba, Inspector-General of Police Mohammed Abubakar and
Director-General of the State Security Service (SSS) Ita Ekpenyong.
Others are Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF)
Anyim Pius Anyim, Minister of Police Affairs Caleb Olubolade and Minister of
State for Defence Erelu Olusola Obada.
Source:
The Nation
No comments:
Post a Comment