According to a new video reportedly obtained by AFP on Sunday, showing Boko-Haram militants on armored vehicle parading down a road in a yet to be identified town, showed armed men lined along a well-paved road, with three pick-up trucks equipped with heavy weapons, as Abubakar Shekau, the group’s leader preached to locals.
The 44-minute video, delivered through the same channels as previous messages reportedly showed Boko Haram voices shouting support for their allies in Iraq and the IS in Syria.
Shekau was seen in close-up shots and rare clarity, dismissing government claims about ceasefire talks and threatens to kill the man who has presented himself as Boko Haram’s negotiator.
Information says it was not possible to tell whether the footage was staged for propaganda purposes, especially scenes of residents cheering Islamist fighters.
The message appeared to be aimed at reinforcing Shekau’s claim that he has created a caliphate within Nigeria.
In the video, black, crested flags associated with the Islamist group are shown.
An armoured vehicle drove down the road lined with both fighters and individuals who appear to be residents of the town.
However, no women or girls are reportedly seen on the street or anywhere else in the footage. Most of the message appeared taken up by a sermon from Shekau, delivered indoors but apparently played on a speaker to locals assembled outside.
“We have indeed established an Islamic caliphate,” he said, restating a call he first made in August.
The images of the sermon include unusually clear close-ups of Shekau, who in past videos has often been shown at a distance, sometimes in grainy footage.
Shekau who has previously expressed solidarity with other jihadi groups and leaders, including the IS militants, in the latest video seemed to associate territory under his control with a wider, global caliphate, but did not submit to the authority of any other jihadi leader.
“To everyone living in Islamic Caliphate, we convey our greetings,” he said, specifically mentioning “brethren” in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Shishan (an Islamist term for Chechnya), Yemen, Somalia and “the Caliphate in Iraq and Syria.”
A graphic shown later includes a picture the IS group’s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as well as a portion of the message his group issued on July 1 proclaiming a caliphate in Iraq and Syria.
Iraq on Sunday was investigating whether Baghdadi was killed in air strikes by US-led coalition warplanes.
Source: AFP
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