SAN FRANCISCO, February 09, (THEWILL) –Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, Monday boasted that the Africa Union Regional Force made up of Nigerian, Chadian, Cameroonian and Nigerien troops cannot defeat the insurgents.
Shekau, who made the boast in a newly-released video, said the joint regional force would not succeed in stopping Boko Haram from truncating democratic rule and imposing Islamic States in West Africa.
Appearing in a combat wear in the video, backing some Hilux vehicles mounted with anti-air craft gun and clutching an AK47 rifle, Shekau was flanked between two masked men wielding AK47 rifles.
Shekau, who read out a prepared speech, vowed to truncate democracy in Nigeria and other neighbouring countries.
In one of the videos, two young men were seen receiving lashes for ‘committing’ adultery while another man had his right hand amputated for ‘stealing’ as another was being stoned to death for fornication.
In another setting, hundreds of women wearing Hijab and children in an unknown town were seen with hundreds of Boko Haram fighters chanting “Allahu Akbar” meaning “God is Great”, driving towards an unknown direction on a deserted highway.
Another video clip featured the “temporary” invasion of Damaturu, the capital of Yobe State, last December where hundreds of Boko Haram fighters in a convoy of utility vehicles and motorcycles were led by an armoured personnel carrier driven through Gujba road.
They later emerged in front of the Yobe Government House along Maiduguri road where an exchange of gunshots ensued before they got access into the premises.
An unidentified spokesman, surrounded by hooded fighters later appeared in a bush where he showcased over 50 vehicles and ammunition which he said were the “spoils of war” they got from Damaturu.
He also debunked claims by the Nigerian armed forces that the December 1 attack by the group on Damaturu was repelled, insisting that “We had a field day in Damaturu, ate and dined, took what we wanted and thereafter drove out of the town on our own volition, with all the vehicles, ammunition and other things we wanted to take along.”
