Boko Haram elusive leader Shekau says 'still around': audio message

We will never cause any discord among the people, we will live by the Quran, Abubakar Shekau says

Afp August 04, 2016

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau speaks at an unknown location in this still image taken from an undated video released by Nigerian militant rebel group Boko Haram. PHOTO: REUTERS

KANO, NIGERIA: Boko Haram's elusive leader Abubakar Shekau said in an audio message Thursday he is still around despite his reported ouster as head of the Nigeria-based militant group by the Islamic State (IS).

"People should know we are still around. We will never cause any discord among the people, we will live by the Quran," Shekau said in a 10-minute audio message.

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"This is our stand and we remain in our capacity as Jama'atu Ahlissunnah Lidda'awati Wal Jihad," he said using the Islamic name for the hardline militant group.

His voice was recognised by an AFP journalist familiar with previous messages he has posted on social media.

It was also confirmed as Shekau's voice by Berlin-based expert Yan St-Pierre of the Modern Security Consulting Group (Mosecon).

"The person who posted on the internet is a very reliable source," he said.

Shekau's audio message was released in response to reports that he had been purportedly replaced by Sheikh Abu Musab al-Barnawi, a former IS spokesperson.

In the latest edition of IS's online weekly magazine Al Naba, which was published on Tuesday, there was an interview with Barnawi in which he was introduced as Boko Haram's new leader In March 2015, Boko Haram pledged allegiance to IS.

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But Shekau dismissed Barnawi as an infidel who condoned living in an un-Islamic society without waging insurgency.

The shadowy leader's absence in recent months has sparked speculation about his fate and whether or not he had been deposed as leader.

He became Boko Haram leader after Nigerian security forces killed the group's founding chief Mohammed Yusuf in 2009, sparking an insurgency that has left 20,000 people dead and forced 2.6 million people to flee their homes.

Boko Haram has been pegged back by an aggressive fightback from the Nigerian military since January 2014, losing territory and its capacity to mount conventional attacks.