A
handout picture released by the Nigerian army showing Multinational
Joint Task Force (MNJTF) medical officers treating civilians injured by
suspected members of the Boko Haram Islamist sect in the village of
Dawashe, in the Kukawa, Borno recently. AFP PHOTO
He also
challenged US President, Barack Obama; Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu and French leader, Francois Hollande, saying they were not his
match.
“You have not killed Shekau,” he said in the video
distributed through a local intermediary in a manner similar to previous
Boko Haram messages.
On the massacred 44, the DSS agent spoke on
condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to
reporters. But agency reports quoted one Usman Musa of the civilian
group as saying that four of its vigilantes were also killed when they
responded to calls for help.
Another report said12 people were
killed in Ngom of Mafa Local Government Area of the state between
Saturday and early Sunday morning. The armed men, suspected to be
members of the Boko Haram sect reportedly invaded the two council areas
during the Muslim Asba prayers.
Residents who fled to Maiduguri,
the Borno State capital, yesterday for safety, disclosed that the gunmen
killed an unspecified number of people. A source from the University of
Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) said they received 26 victims of the
attacks who are currently receiving treatment in the hospital.
Also
a member representing Konduga at the state house of assembly, Ali Bukar
Dalori told newsmen at Government House, Maiduguri that he received
news of attacks on members of his constituency with shock. He said
although he did not know the casualty figure, he was informed that many
people lost their lives and some who were injured were brought to UMTH
for treatment.
“I was told that many people were killed. I will be
going to the hospital to see the victims; I think the governor would be
going there either today or tomorrow to see for himself. But whatever
it is, many people were killed yesterday,” he said.
In the Shekau
video, seated on a short stool with a Kalashnikov rested on his right
shoulder, the Islamic sect’s boss said Boko Haram was “responsible” for
several deadly raids over the past months.
These include attacks
on the police and military in the towns of Malam Fatori and Bama, which
sparked clashes that killed at least 35 people, according to the
military.
The video contained what Shekau claimed was footage of
Boko Haram gunmen opening fire on the military in Bama, using heavy
weapons mounted on flat-bed trucks.
Shekau also referred to fighting in the towns of Baga and Gamboru Ngala near the border with Cameroon.
The
Boko Haram leader has been declared a global terrorist by the United
States, which in March put a $7 million (5.3 million euros) bounty on
his head.
“I’m challenging Obama,” Shekau said in the video. He
voiced similar challenges to French President Francois Hollande and
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.”They are no match for me,” he
proclaimed.
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