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| A still from a video release by Boko Haram shows its leader, Abubakar Shekau (file photo). |
By Aminu Abubakar
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 jihadist group by the Islamic State (IS). "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.
"This is our stand
and we remain in our capacity as Jama'atu Ahlissunnah Lidda'awati Wal
Jihad," he said using the Islamic name for the hardline jihadist group.
His voice was recognised 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
"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 IS
spokesman.In the latest edition of IS'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 IS. 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.
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