By TIMOTHY OLANREWAJU, Maiduguri

A man who appeared like Abubakar Shekau, leader of Boko Haram insurgents in a new video released on Sunday boasted the sect has established an Islamic caliphate in Gwoza town, southeast of Borno State.

“Thanks be to Allah who gave us victory to attack Abuja and  Yobe town called Damaturu. We still thank God for the successful bombing of Damboa and other parts of Nigeria. We are grateful to Allah for the big victory he granted our members in Gwoza and made the town part of our Islamic Caliphate,” he said in his characteristic unstable presentation. He also lashed at western nations for supporting Nigeria to fight insurgency.

He also suggested the terrorists’ rejection of the Nigerian nation, saying:  “We are in Islamic Caliphate. We have nothing to do with Nigeria. We don’t believe in this name.” He vowed to continue attacks to increase their quest for more control.

He said the Boko Haram released the video to make clarification about its recent attack, adding that the insurgents carried out most of the recent attacks including Damboa, Gwoza and other communities in Borno and Yobe. He said Boko Haram also killed some of their members who he described as infidel. “Oh people, I’m making this speech because of the lies being spread always by the government,” he stated.

He expressed his anger against the youth volunteers popularly called Civilian JTF, for allegedly apprehending and killing Boko Haram. “Have you forgotten what you did to our brethren? You were even asking ‘are you Boko Haram, have you ever carried a gun? This was how you killed our members,” he said, threatening to avenge the alleged killing. Excerpt of the transcribed version from the video as reproduced here.

“I chose to deliver this message in order to refute the lies being spread by the government, about the operations we had in recent times.

“We warn the Vigilante, called Civilian JTF to back should back out; if not there will be no place for them to hide. We have evidences of how you killed some of our brethren whom you would ask if they are Boko Haram before you  killed them; we knew how you humiliated them by asking them if they had ever carried guns or killed someone…we knew everything about the evil you committed against our brethren.


Source: Sun