Boko Haram in new video, threatens Buhari

THE Boko Haram sect released a video on Tuesday, celebrating the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha and threatened to “capture” President Muhammadu Buhari.

The almost 13-minute film, posted on YouTube and circulated via social media, showed large number of people, including children gathering for what appeared to be Eid prayers in several unknown locations. The video showed various groups of people praying in a mosque and in an outdoor clearing on Monday. According to the narrator, it was the day of the Islamic feast.

A preacher was seen addressing the crowd in the mosque and later outside, carrying a sheathed sword that was drawn towards the end of the video. The preacher, speaking in Hausa Language, said he was speaking on behalf of long-time Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, who did not appear in the video.

According to a translation by Nigeria’s PREMIUM TIMES, the speaker also stated that the group would  “capture Buhari with our hands.”

According to some analysts, the fact that Boko Haram released its own Eid video independently of ISIS was further evidence of divisions within the group.

The Nigerian military claimed to have “fatally wounded” Shekau in an airstrike in August, but there had been no confirmation from Boko Haram sect of whether its leader was injured or dead.

Nigeria’s armed forces had claimed, on several occasions, to have killed Shekau.

It will be recalled that in a video released in August, Shekau appeared armed with a machine gun, taunting Buhari-led administration.