Boko Haram’s leader said he has
created an Islamic caliphate in a northeast Nigeria
town seized by the insurgents earlier this month, in
a video obtained by AFP on Sunday.
“Thanks be to Allah who gave victory to our
brethren in (the town of) Gwoza and made it part of
the Islamic caliphate,” Abubakar Shekau said in the
52-minute video.
He declared that Gwoza, in Borno state, now has
“nothing to do with Nigeria”.
“By the grace of Allah we will not leave the town.
We have come to stay,” said Shekau, who has been
designated a global terrorist by the United States
and sanctioned by the UN Security Council.
The United Nations humanitarian office (OCHA)
earlier this month confirmed reports that Gwoza
was under rebel control.
Boko Haram is also believed to be in control of
other areas near Gwoza in southern Borno, as well
as large swathes of territory in northern Borno and
at least one town in neighbouring Yobe state.
Mapping the precise areas which have fallen into
Islamist hands is nearly impossible.
There are few humanitarian workers on the ground
in the northeast, travel is dangerous and the region,
which has been under a state of emergency since
May of last year, has poor mobile phone coverage.
Experts have described Boko Haram’s gains in
recent weeks as unprecedented, saying the group
was closer than ever to achieving its goal of carving
out a strict Islamic state across northern Nigeria.
But many analysts believe the military has the
capacity to reverse the insurgents’ advance.
Soldiers this week refused to deploy to Gwoza
without better weapons in an apparent mutiny.
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