The Boko Haram terrorist group yesterday continued its gory killings in Yobe and Borno States, even as it emerged that the sect has formally aligned with the ruthless Islamic State (ISIS) militants in the Middle East, when both groups jointly released a video.
The joint release of the video sets a terrifying new precedent. It is the first gruesome video of a beheading since it (Boko Haram) pledged allegiance to ISIS last year.
In the video, a suspected Nigerian soldier was seen in a kneeling position, surrounded by three terrorists wielding AK 47 assault rifles and later, another picture, without the head.
This video is coming as President Muhammadu Buhari and the federal government continue to work day and night to tackle and end the insurgency before it runs out of hand and have vowed to crush the insurgents to the last man.
The video adopts many of the same style-points as the hundreds of barbaric videos released by ISIS over the last year.
The ‘West Africa’ insignia at the top-left corner of the video, suggests the terror group may have set up a new so-called media wing in the country.
It was learnt that a Somali terror group has also disclosed intentions to join ISIS, which would extend its so-called caliphate to East Africa.
According to Daily Mail online, the 10 minute-long propaganda video begins with what appears to be an intense fire fight against Nigerian soldiers. Boko Haram fighters exchange machine gun fire with the troops and launch heavy mortar grenades on their locations. It shows them standing proudly next to the corpses of scorched Nigerian troops – and showing off their security badges to the camera.
The video ends with the senseless murder of a captured African Union soldier. With a look of true horror on his face, the man kneels in front of three masked Boko Haram fanatics – two of whom point AK47s at his head. The video then cuts to reveal his decapitated body lying motionless on the floor.Islamic State accepted a pledge of allegiance from Boko Haram, who were responsible for the deaths of over 10,000 in Nigeria in 2014, in March this year.
The audio message entitled ‘kill and be killed’, released through the militants’ vast social media channels, was read by an ISIS spokesperson who also threatened further violence against the Christian and Jewish communities.
The sequence of events clearly indicated that Boko Haram that has been causing devastation in the North Eastern part of the country, has forged a strong operational alliance with ISIS.
Speaking for his leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the man in the recording said, “we announce to you to the good news of the expansion of the caliphate to West Africa.
“Our caliph has accepted the pledge of loyalty of our brothers of Boko Haram so we congratulate Muslims and our jihadi brothers in West Africa.”
The militants have been waging a six-year insurgency to impose strict Sharia law in Nigeria and earlier this year, launched attacks across the border on Cameroon, before striking Niger and Chad.
The group has killed thousands in bomb attacks and violent sieges on villages in the remote north-east, and are now feared to be spilling over into neighbouring Cameroon and Chad.
It inspired five African nations to form a coalition to take the group on and 8,700 troops from Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin are expected to begin operations before the end of next month.
Also yesterday, the Somali terror group, Al-Shabaab, indicated it could soon scrap its allegiance to Al-Qaeda and pledge loyalty to rivals ISIS, instead.
Islamic State invited the East African jihadi group to join forces with them through a propaganda video released in March, urging it to wage jihad on neighbouring Kenya, Ethiopia and Tanzania
Now, Al-Shabaab members and sources within the Somali army suggest the invitation will be accepted and the group, which commands around 9,000 fighters, will soon extend ISIS’ self-proclaimed caliphate to East Africa.
The decision comes at a time when many of Al-Shabaab’s local and foreign leaders are being killed by commando raids and drone strikes, the group is rapidly losing territory and its money is running out as a result.
Security expert, Ryan Cummings says that ISIS’ desire to merge with Al-Shabaab is part of its international expansion plan.
“Al-Shabaab is the largest jihadi movement in East Africa and central to the core mandate of ISIS is the unification of the Muslim world,” a counter-terrorism expert told CNN at the time.
Ryan Cummings added that a merger “would be a significant ideological victory for the group (ISIS). It would be massive from a public relations perspective, which is central to the Islamic State’s operations.
“The Islamic State still wants to create the perception that it’s growing and branching out to various parts of the world. The only way that it will be able to achieve this will be to have groups serving as an extension in their various areas of operation.”
Several insurgents killed in battle with troops
Meanwhile, several suspected terrorists were feared dead
when troops who were newly deployed to the troubled Borno State clashed along the Damaturu-Maiduguri road, on Saturday morning.
The incident, according to sources, took place on Saturday morning, between Ngamdu-Mainok-Jakana villages, which is about 50km drive to Maiduguri, the state capital.
Between Benisheik and Ngamdu is about 25km stretch of road, without any security checkpoint.
According to a security source, the terrorists, in a convoy of three white coloured Hilux vehicles, had earlier barricaded the road where they blocked two motorists, including a truck, which they suspected were conveying foodstuff to Maiduguri, but luck run out on them as troops with support from the residents of Jakana village, immediately swung into action and killed some of the terrorists before they set ablaze two hilux vehicles and destroyed the third, all belonging to the terrorists.
The source further stated that at about noon, a detachment of military troops was seen at the scene, with over four Armoured Personnel Carriers, evacuating some corpses and the injured to Maiduguri, but insisted that he did not know if there were casualties on the side of the troops.
“I can confidently tell you that the busy Maiduguri-Damaturu road had a deadly attack between insurgents and troops, which I believe many of the terrorists were killed with destruction of three of their vehicles,” the source emphasised.
Another security official in one of the villages on the axis, while also confirming the incident, said travellers were being asked to detour as terrorists had taken over the road between Benisheik, a town 85km away from Maiduguri and Ngamdu, 35km away from Damaturu.
The security source, who preferred anonymity, said 10 persons were killed in an earlier attack at Ngamdu village of Benesheikh, the council headquarters of Kaga local government area, on Friday night, adding that it may be the same group that clashed with troops on Saturday.
4 Suicide Bombers Die In Failed Mission
Four suspected Boko Haram suicide bombers were yesterday killed by the explosives they were ferrying in a tricycle, popularly called Keke NAPEP, after a failed attempt to enter a large bus station in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, witnesses and security sources said.
A thunderous explosion resonated all over Maiduguri at exactly 7:11am yesterday.
Witnesses said the bombers went after a passenger bus that was coming out of the Borno Express Terminus filled with travellers, but could not get the bomb detonated on time. The tricycle later exploded, killing all the passengers except one who managed to alight shortly after the tricycle hit the rear of the moving passenger bus.
The suicide bombers, according to witnesses, tried to enter the terminus to detonate the bomb but were stopped by security operatives at the entrance who asked them to park outside because as a rule, only cars and buses are allowed into the park. The bombers were said to have made another failed attempt through the exit gate, a distance of about 300 meters apart and as a last resort, decided to take it on a bus that had loaded its passengers and was exiting the terminus.
The tricycle driver was said to have driven after the bus and tried to ram into its rear, but the driver was quick to speed off and seconds later, the tricycle exploded.
According to Aliyu Danmalam, a Civilian JTF operative, “when they came initially, we suspected a foul move as the Keke NAPEP rider came to attempt taking passengers into the station; everyone knows only cars and buses enter the park but here we had a tricycle rider trying to ride in. Only a total stranger would want to ride Keke NAPEP into the park.
“It didn’t occur to us to quickly arrest him, rather, we sent him back. He even tried going through the exit gate but later changed his mind. He then waited, with his passengers still on board, for a bus to come out before he decided to attack. One of the passengers on the suicide tricycle was said to have escaped seconds after the rider rammed the tricycle into the rear of the moving bus before it exploded. He was later arrested by youths who went after him. But one woman and two other persons were injured due to the explosion.”
15 killed in Chad
At least 15 people were killed and 74 injured in a suicide bomb attack at a crowded market in Chad’s capital, N’Djamena on Saturday.
No group has claimed responsibility for the Chad attack, but authorities have blamed the Nigeria-based militants for a series of bombings and shootings in the country in recent weeks.
Travellers on the route passing through the Nigerian village of Ngamdu were asked to turn back as the terrorists mount road blocks on the only safe highway leading to Maiduguri.
“Our current count is 15 dead,” Chadian police spokesman, Paul Manga, said. The total includes the suicide bomber – a man dressed in a woman’s burqa.
Chad authorities banned the head-to-toe religious garment last month, citing the risk that attackers could use it as a disguise or hide explosives underneath.
The bomber attempted to enter the market, then detonated his bomb when military police tried to stop him, Manga said.
In another development, as a proactive measure to guard against a likely attack by the Boko Haram sect, the Cameroonian immigration authorities have deported about 450 Nigerians living illegally in the country.
Those affected were picked up from Kousseri, a border town between Cameroon and Chad, where they had initially been sent packing by the authorities in that country.
They were handed to government officials in Mubi, Adamawa State, North-Eastern Nigeria, according to Africa Review, a Kenyan digital news platform.
A Cameroonian official, Mr. Albert Mekondané Obounou, said those affected, “are foreign nationals without valid documents.”
A security source, who asked not to be named, revealed that the move was also part of an agreement reached by countries leading the fight against the insurgents in the sub-region.
“We decided to send home all foreigners without valid papers. Other countries of the sub-region involved in the fight against Boko Haram had advocated this solution to truly fight against the terrorists who infiltrate people,” the source said.
Nationals of other countries affected in the latest crackdown include Chad and Mali. Cameroon said it was only the beginning of a hunt on undocumented foreigners in the country.
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