According to reports by the Guardian, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, has appeared in a new video to deny claims that the insurgent group has been crushed and flushed out of its Sambisa forest stronghold.
The Boko Haram leader, who was flanked in his usual style by armed fighters, denied defeat of the insurgent group.
“We are safe. We have not been flushed out of anywhere. And tactics and strategies cannot reveal our location except if Allah wills by his decree,” The Guardian quoted Shekau as saying in the video which is said to last 25 minutes.
“You should not be telling lies to the people,” he added before querying “If you indeed crushed us, how can you see me like this? How many times have you killed us in your bogus death?”
Shekau’s denial comes just a day after the Nigerian Army briefed journalists in Maiduguri, Borno state capital about the way the military outfit led other armed forces to take over what is now known as Camp Zero, Boko Haram’s stronghold in Sambisa forest.
The authenticity of the video cannot be immediately verified and may have been shot long before the destruction of Camp Zero by the Nigerian armed forces.
On its part, the Nigerian Army has said it is not aware of the existence of such a video.