The terrorist group, Boko Haram, issued a new video yesterday dismissing any suggestion it would surrender. This came just over a week after the sect’s shadowy leader Abubakar Shekau appeared in a rare message looking dejected and frail. Shekau, who was not seen on camera for more than a year, released an unverified video late last month and said his time in charge of the group might be coming to an end.
If the video indeed depicts Shekau, he appears thin and listless, delivering his message without his trademark fiery rhetoric, prompting speculation from the army that the sect was on the verge of collapse in the face of a sustained military counter-insurgency. However, in the latest message, Boko Haram maintained it was a potent fighting force, with insurgents posing with AK-47s in front of Toyota Hilux pick-up trucks and a lorry mounted with a military cannon.
