In what looks like a declaration of its intention
to spread its attacks beyond West Africa, Boko Haram has said the entire world
is its enemy.
Claiming that it is invincible, the terrorist
group also dared the multi-national force comprising troops from Nigeria,
Niger, Chad and Cameroon currently engaging it in fierce battles in
Northeastern Nigeria to increase the number.
In a video posted on YouTube on Monday, the
leader of the terrorist group, Abubakar Shekau, said its original intention was
to confront the world.
“We never rose up to fight Africa. We rose up to
fight the world,” Shekau, who was dressed in his trademark military camouflage,
said in the three-part video.
The group released the video in the early hours
of Monday. But by noon, YouTube had removed it as it was considered offensive.
Shekau said his group was fighting the world on
the basis of what he considered an Islamic tenet.
“We are going to fight the world on the principle
that whoever does not obey Allah and the Prophet will either die or become a
slave,” he said.
One of the video clips showed images of the
leader of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, alongside a footage of the
old Sokoto Caliphate. The photos were accompanied with a voiceover, narrating
the epic battle between British colonialists and local fighters from the
caliphate.
Bloggers and social media analysts said the
recall of the historical event was, indeed, an indication that the insurgents
were repositioning for a wider jihad in the context of global insurgency.
Shekau scoffed at the regional arrangement to
halt the murderous operations of the Bokon Haram, saying that the group was
capable of facing a much stronger force.
Referring to the military alliance entered by
Nigeria and the other African countries affected by Boko Haram attacks, Shekau
boasted that his fighters were invincible.
“Your alliance will not achieve anything. Amass
all your weapons and face us. We welcome you. You sent 7,000 troops? Why don’t
you send 70 million? You mean you could only send 7,000? This is small. By
Allah, it is small. We can seize them one-by-one,” he bragged.
The terrorist promised that the group would not
be deterred by the regional alliance against its operation. He specifically
warned the Chadians and Cameroonians against their involvement in the war,
urging them to renounce democracy to be better Muslims.
He also told those who listened to the tape to
tell the Chadian President, Idriss Deby, that he would “burn in hell fire” if
he did not repent.
The video also showed a man accused of committing
adultery being stoned to death. Buried with only his head visible, the man was
stoned by a crowd who yelled as he died slowly.
Another man also had one of his limbs amputated
for allegedly stealing, while a group of young men were flogged for “committing
fornication.”
Following the spread of Boko Haram’s activities
to neighbouring countries, the Nigerien, Chadian and Cameroonian soldiers had
joined forces with Nigerian troops to thwart what many people have considered
as a threat to the regional security.
It would be recalled that the African Union
recently approved the 7,500 troops donated by Nigeria and the affected
countries to create the Multi-national Joint Task Force.
But on Saturday, Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Camero0n
and Benin agreed to raise the number of troops from 7,500 to 8,700.
A day after the agreement was reached, Boko Haram
launched twin attacks on Diffa, a town situated in the Southeast of Niger. The
attack followed similar ones in Cameroon.
According to the Associated Press,
another Cameroonian town, Kolofata, was attacked on Monday by the extremists,
who looted food and livestock in the process. The town had since been
recaptured by Chadian troops.
Source: Punch
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