New Video Is Fake, Abubakar Shekau is Dead – Defence HQ

Is Abubakar Shekau really dead? The new video purportedly released by Boko Haram leader,Abubakar Shekau has been described as fake by theNigerian Defence Headquarters.

Shekau appeared in the clipreleased today claiming responsibility for a missing Air Force jet and also dismissingreports of his death.

The Defence HQ has however released a statement discrediting the video. It reads:

The Defence Headquarters isstudying the claims made in the video purportedly released by the terrorists showing their leader Abubakar Shekau as dismissing his death. From immediate observation and what some online newsoutlets claimed to have seen, the video did not indicate when it was shot neither did it show any proof of life or currency such as screen timeor date.

The video also did not make any reference to anything that has happened since the impostor’s reported death. It is also noteworthy that the air plane said to be mentioned in the video had been missing before he was killed.

It should not surprise anybody if the terrorists decide tomanipulate pictures, clone another Shekau or upload a pre-recorded video all in a bid to prove invincible. As far as we are concerned, the individual who was appearing in video and claiming to be the leader of the terrorist group was killed in the Kondunga battle in September.

The resemblance of the corpse and that of theeccentric character was incontrovertible. His identity was equally corroborated by people who knew him before we announced his death. So, while waiting to see the new video before any further statement, our message to them is that justice will be served to whoever bears that name or designation andwhoever engages in act.

Shekau said in the video that Boko Haram was instituting Sharia law in the communities that it had occupied in the troubled North East.