Leader of the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunnah Lidda’awati Wal Jihad, Abubakar Shekau, yesterday released a video in which he claimed responsibility for the killing of Zaria-based cleric, Sheikh Auwal Albani.
“We killed Albani of Zaria. We killed Albani of Zaria. Shekau killed Albani of Zaria,” he said in the 28-minute video.
Shekau vowed that his fighters would soon blow off oil installations in the Niger Delta.
He threatened that his group would kill prominent northern leaders including politicians, clerics and traditional rulers whom he said were supporting democracy and westernisation, which according to him are un-Islamic.
In the video, Shekau is seen dressed in military fatigue and a turban.
He appears in a bush dotted with scanty vegetation, climbs an armoured tank and thereafter alights while dozens of his men stand by and keep firing gunshots from rifles mounted on Hilux trucks.
“My brothers…you should hold on to your weapons and continue fighting. Let them understand that our work is not confined to Yobe, Borno and Adamawa,” he said.
“Make them understand that we are not restricted by emergency rule. They should understand that we are under the shield of Allah. This is the beginning, yes, this is the beginning. By Allah, we will kill whoever practices democracy.”
He also said, “Niger-Delta you are in trouble. Jonathan you are in trouble…” and went on to name certain Northern politicians, traditional rulers and clerics who he said his men would target.
“The reason why I will kill you is you are infidels, you follow democracy…Whoever follows democracy is an infidel. This is Shekau, this is why I’m in enmity with you…. What makes you infidels is democracy and constitution and western education,” he said in Hausa language.
“All these infidels we are the ones killing them. We enjoy shedding their blood. The Koran must be supreme, we must establish Islam in this country. Not only in Borno, we will henceforth destroy any schools wherever we see them.”
Shekau also spoke strictly in Arabic in another view but the message was almost the same with the one in Hausa.
In 2013, the Nigerian military authorities claimed that Shekau might have died of gunshot wounds in Amichide in Cameroon but he has released at least four videos since then.
There was no immediate comment from authorities on the latest video.
Source: Daily Trust
