‘The end’ for Boko Haram chief

Nigerian militant looks thin and dejected in video

KANO, NIGERIA // Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau appeared on video for the first time in more than a year yesterday, rejecting rumours about his death but appearing to signal that his time as chief of the extremist group may be coming to an end.

In a message that contained none of the defiant bluster, taunts and denunciation of political leaders of earlier recordings, a dejected Shekau said: “For me, the end has come.

“This is a message of greeting and joy for you to see my face,” said Shekau, who pledged allegiance to ISIL last year.

“This is only the message I want to send to you for you to understand that this is certainly I. This is why I did this.”

The video was poorly shot, unlike messages from the radicalised militants at the end of 2014 and start of last year, which were heavily edited and closely resembled those released by ISIL. It was also posted on YouTube rather than via Twitter accounts linked to ISIL supporters and websites linked to fellow extremist groups, which had become the group’s preferred means of communica- tion. The bearded Shekau who looked thin, delivered a speech to his followers in front of a lime green background, with the Boko Haram black flag superimposed in crude graphics.

There was no indication of when or where the video was shot.

Shekau also referred in the past tense to the Borno state town of Gwoza, which Boko Haram overran in mid- 2014 and where it declared a socalled caliphate. The town was later retaken in a military counter-offensive over the past year.

Boko Haram supply lines are said to have been squeezed, preventing them from sourcing fuel for hit-and-run attacks and conventional fighting, although suicide bombings continued.

There were also reports of fighters surrendering because of a lack of food.

Shekau himself is said to be in hiding in the Sambisa Forest area of Borno state, north-east Nigeria, currently targeted by the military.

Nigeria claimed several times that Shekau had been killed in the deadly insurgency that has claimed at least 17,000 lives since 2009, only for him to reappear in video messages.

The military claimed several lookalikes have since stood in for him.