After a long disappearance,
Boko Haram factional leader Abubakar Shekau has re-emerged in a new video.
There were speculations
that Shekau’s health might be failing and his incapable of leading the terror
groups.
However, in a 36-minute
video obtained by AFP on Tuesday, Shekau was seen sitting in front of a
military camouflage canvas – He wore a white robe and skull cap, and held an
assault rifle.
Though Shelia didn’t look
his usual self, he however made no mention of his health or reports from last
month that he had high blood pressure, failing eyesight and diabetes-related
complications.
According to Shekau, the
video recorded on July 12 at the request of his supporters “as a kind of Eid
greetings… to show that their brethren are well, in view of all sorts of things
infidels are saying (about us) which we have ignored”.
The end of the Muslim holy
month of Ramadan was celebrated in Nigeria on June 15. It was not possible to
obtain independent verification of the claimed date, and there was no
explanation about the apparent delay in recording or publishing the message,
AFP reports.
In May 2017, Shekau looked
frail and appeared to have difficulty reading from a prepared speech, which he
held close to his face in an apparent indication of vision problems.
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