The head of Boko Haram Islamists
said he supported a July 6 attack on a
school that killed 42 people, but did not
claim responsibility for the massacre, in a
video obtained by AFP Saturday.
"We fully support the attack on this Western
education school in Mamudo," in northern
Yobe state, Abubakar Shekau said in the 10-
minute video speech.
The mostly Hausa language message shows
Shekau, designated a global terrorist by the
United States, kneeling on mat with a
Kalashnikov resting on his left shoulder.
He speaks in English for several seconds
towards the end of the video, something he
has not done in recent public messages.
The early morning gun and bomb attack at
a boarding school in the Mamudo district of
Yobe saw assailants round up students and
staff in a dormitory before throwing
explosives inside and opening fire,
according to witnesses.
Almost all of those killed were students. It
was the third school attack in recent weeks
and the second in Yobe.
On June 16, gunmen opened fire on a
secondary school in Damaturu, Yobe's
capital, killing seven students and two
teachers.
Shekau voiced similar support the Damaturu
attack, describing all "Western education
schools" as a "plot against Islam".
He however stopped short of claiming to
have ordered the killings.
"We don't attack students," he said in the
video that was delivered to AFP in a manner
consistent with previous statements from
the Islamist leader.
Roughly translated, Boko Haram means
"Western education is sin," and the
insurgents have been blamed for previous
raids on schools, with some analysts
suggesting the group has selected shocking
targets to generate attention.
Yobe state was one of three areas placed
under a state of emergency in May ahead of
a sweeping military offensive against Boko
Haram.
The military has claimed significant gains in
the two-month-old offensive, but such
boasts have been difficult to verify and
Boko Haram attacks have continued in some
places.
Shekau, in the message, also denied reports
that the Islamist extremists had entered into
ceasefire negotiations with the
government.
This week, a federal cabinet minister and
head of a panel tasked with talking to the
insurgents claimed he was negotiating with
a legitimate Shekau deputy and that a
ceasefire deal was at hand.
"The claim that we have entered into a truce
with the government of Nigeria is not true,"
the wanted Islamist leader said.
Nigeria's Minister for Special Duties Kabiru
Tanimu Turaki told journalists that he was
negotiating with Shekau's "second in
command", and reports of a looming
ceasefire filled the front pages of Nigeria's
newspapers.
"We don't know Kabiru Turaki. We have
never spoken with him. He is lying," Shekau
said.
Nigeria's government and military have
regularly been accused of spreading false
information regarding the insurgency.
Boko Haram has said it is fighting to create
an Islamic state in Nigeria and Shekau
restated the demand for a nation governed
by sharia (Islamic law) in his latest message.
Last month the United States placed a $7.0
million (5.3 million euros) bounty on Shekau.
He is believed to be the leader of Boko
Haram's hardline Islamist faction, but most
analysts believe the group is made up of
various camps.
The insurgency has cost 3,600 lives since
2009, including killings by the security
services.
Nigeria's is Africa's most populous country
and top oil producer, where acute poverty
remains rampant despite the massive oil
wealth.
Local and Western analysts have long
argued that improving living conditions in
the mainly Muslim north is key to curbing
the insurgency
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