Boko Haram’s Leader, Shekau appears in video after death claims

 

KANO  – A man who claims to be the leader of Nigerian Islamist extremist group Boko Haram has appeared in a video taunting world leaders after military claims that he may have been killed from a gunshot wound after a clash with soldiers on June 30.

He said:
“Here is Shekau, Shekau, Shekau, Shekau, original … I want the whole world to know that I’m alive by the grace of Allah.” 

The man resembled past images of Abubakar Shekau, in a video seen by AFP on Wednesday.

Sitting on the ground with an AK-47 leaning against his shoulder, he names Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, US President Barack Obama, French President Francois Hollande and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as Britain's Queen Elizabeth.
It was not clear when or where the video was recorded, but Shekau, speaking in the Hausa language, references recent attacks in northeastern Nigeria, denounces democracy and pledges to keep fighting.

The video, distributed through an intermediary to local reporters, shows the man believed to be Shekau surrounded by a group of fighters dressed in camouflage who are also holding AK-47s.-AFP