The leader of the Boko Haram sect,
Abubakar Shekau, has appeared in a
new video, promising to “decapitate and
mutilate” more people in the name of
Allah and ridiculing the United States
for putting a bounty on his head,
saying, “You can’t in any way harm me.”
Shekau, who has been dubbed a “global
terrorist” by the U.S and twice been
declared killed by the Nigerian military,
claimed responsibility for a December
20 attack on a tank battalion barracks in
Bama, Borno State.
“Brothers pulverised 21 armoured
tanks. People were killed in their
multitudes, bodies scattered all over,”
he said, adding that his forces “blew out
the brains” of soldiers who tried to hide
under their blankets.
“Had Allah allowed us to eat them we
would have eaten them but we are not
cannibals,” he added, according to
reports. “This is a victory from Allah.”
The video showed the terrorist leader
seated on a mat surrounded by masked
fighters. It included footage ostensibly
filmed of the attack, with burning
buildings and fighter jets and armed,
masked men walking around them.
The insurgents stormed the barracks by
arriving in a convoy of trucks shortly
before sunrise, opening fire on soldiers
inside before torching the compound.
Witnesses said they kidnapped soldiers
along with women and children.
The military has not yet released a
death toll from the attack but said that
more than 50 insurgents were killed
when ground forces backed by fighter
jets pursued them after the raid. Locals
claimed they also killed an unknown
number of civilians and destroyed four
villages.
Shekau threatened more mayhem in
the video sent to AFP on Saturday
whose authenticity has not been
verified, although it is one in a series
sent to the news agency in which he
features.
“As for killing, we will kill because Allah
says we should decapitate, we should
amputate limbs, we should mutilate,” he
said.
He also shrugged off the bounties put
on his head – $7 million by the U.S and
$312,500 by the Nigerian government.
“We do not worship money. “You can’t
in any way harm me.”
