The leader of Jama’tu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad, also known as Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau has dismissed suggestions that his group was face-to-face with imminent defeat and considering to surrender to either the Chadian or Nigerian military forces. He has also dismissed reports at the frontlines that his fighters are weary and on edge at …
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The leader of Jama’tu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad, also known as Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau has dismissed suggestions that his group was face-to-face with imminent defeat and considering to surrender to either the Chadian or Nigerian military forces.
He has also dismissed reports at the frontlines that his fighters are weary and on edge at their longstanding operational fortress at the Sambisa forest. The expansive forest borders Nigeria and Cameroon and has served as his group’s base since 2013.
According to Shekau, in an eight-minute twenty-two seconds audio released yesterday, “nothing has happened to us, we are in good health. That you (military) have entered Sambisa and bombarded our brothers are lies. You (government) are lying to your people because you want to please them.”
The embattled insurgency leader said that the government was trying to lure members of his group to go to Chad or Nigeria to surrender. “This is a lie, it also means that you don’t understand us.”
If there is going to be dialogue, Shekau offered, it must be that Muslims must be in a position of strength and their opponents must be ready to adjust and accept whatever the terms are for them.
“And these terms are not for infidels like you. Democracy is the laws of the people, and ours is the command of Allah,” Shekau said.
“Muslims do not dialogue with infidels until the infidels are ready to bend and if in your interpretation, you think you have defeated us, to the extent that we will bend, know that between East and West, there is a long-distance,” Shekau said.
“Idris Deby, you are lying, nothing has happened to us, your evil will end on yourself,” Shekau said in response to the recent Chadian offensive against his group.
The Boko Haram leader also derides social distancing measures, saying they are observing congregation prayer and are engaged in trading activities in their hideouts.
The audio was dominated by a song rendered in Hausa, urging fighters of the group to be patient and resilient in the face of trials. Observers of the insurgency in the region said the trials are indications that the ongoing military campaign by the Nigerian Armed Forces is putting the group on edge.
