Boko Haram’s Abubakar Shekau Returns in New Video

 Abubakar Shekau, the erstwhile leader of extremist group, Boko Haram is back as he has appeared in a new video where he vowed to continue his fight against Nigeria and the world.

Shekau who had been presumed dead had reappeared again in an audio message last week, after Islamic State Group, ISIS, name Abu Musab Al-Barnawi as the group’s leader.

Shekau called Al-Barnawi an infidel in his audio message and also insisted that he is still the leader, while claiming that he was deceived by ISIS.

“We have no desire to fight our Muslim brethren,” Shekau said in the 24-minute video released on Sunday.

Shekau also denied and ridiculed reports that he was dead in the new video monitored by SITE intelligence group.

In the video, he is wearing camouflage gear and holding a machine gun, standing between two Islamist fighters in balaclavas armed with rocket-propelled grenade launchers.

At the end of his speech, he fired off rounds of ammunition into the air.

Barnawi’s appointment was contained in a magazine issued by the Islamic State group, to which Boko Haram pledged allegiance in March last year.

Shekau became leader after the group’s founder, Mohammed Yusuf died in custody in 2009.

Omar Mahmood, a security analyst with US-based Foreign Policy Research Institute who has spent the past five years researching Boko Haram, said Shekau was removed because of his highhandedness and ruthlessness.

“One thing that has remained constant, however, is the focus on attacks against regional security forces, with Muslim civilian deaths still ignored. This aspect seems to be a key concern for IS propagandists,” Mahmood said.

“By contrast, Abu Musab al-Barnawi, the man announced as the new leader, clearly stated in his al-Naba interview that attacks against Muslim civilians, mosques and markets will not be a staple of his leadership,” he said.