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Boko Haram Elusive Chief Shekau Says ’Still around’: Audio Message

Africa African States Politics 04-08-2016 01:35 PM
Boko Haram Elusive Chief Shekau Says ’Still around’: Audio Message

Boko Haram’s elusive leader Abubakar Shekau said in an audio message Thursday he is still around despite his reported ouster as head of the Nigeria-based Takfiri group by the ISIL terrorist group.

Boko Haram's elusive leader Abubakar Shekau said in an audio message Thursday he is still around despite his reported ouster as head of the Nigeria-based Takfiri group by the ISIL terrorist group.

"People should know we are still around. We will never cause any discord among the people, we will live by the Koran," Shekau said in a 10-minute audio message.Boko Haram's elusive leader Abubakar Shekau

"This is our stand and we remain in our capacity as Jama'atu Ahlissunnah Lidda'awati Wal Jihad," he said using the so-called Islamic name for the Takfiri group.

His voice was recognized by an AFP journalist familiar with previous messages he has posted on social media.

It was also confirmed as Shekau's voice by Berlin-based expert Yan St-Pierre of the Modern Security Consulting Group (Mosecon).

"The person who posted on the internet is a very reliable source," he said.

Shekau's audio message was released in response to reports that he had been purportedly replaced by Sheikh Abu Musab al-Barnawi, a former ISIL spokesman.

In the latest edition of ISIL's online weekly magazine Al-Naba, which was published on Tuesday, there was an interview with Barnawi in which he was introduced as Boko Haram's new leader

In March 2015, Boko Haram pledged allegiance to ISIL.

But Shekau dismissed Barnawi as an infidel who condoned living in an "un-Islamic society without waging jihad."

The shadowy leader's absence in recent months has sparked speculation about his fate and whether or not he had been deposed as leader.

He became Boko Haram leader after Nigerian security forces killed the group's founding chief Mohammed Yusuf in 2009, sparking an insurgency that has left 20,000 people dead and forced 2.6 million people to flee their homes.

Boko Haram has been pegged back by an aggressive fightback from the Nigerian military since January 2014, losing territory and its capacity to mount conventional attacks.