Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, has declared Gwoza town, seized by his men last Thursday, as a caliphate.The terrorist who made the declaration in a video obtained by AFP said his group would not leave the town.
“Thanks be to Allah who gave victory to our brethren in (the town of) Gwoza and made it part of the Islamic caliphate,” Shekau said in the 52-minute video.By the grace of Allah, we will not leave the town. We have come to stay,” he added.
In a July video, Shekau voiced support for the leader of the Islamic State militants Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who in late June declared himself “the caliph” and “leader of Muslims everywhere.”
The AFP said there was no indication from Shekau in the latest video that he was associating himself with Baghdadi whose Sunni Muslim fighters have taken over parts of Iraq and Syria.The report said it was not clear if Shekau was declaring himself to be a part of Baghdadi’s call or if he was referring to a separate Nigerian caliphate.
There was no indication that Shekau was actually in Gwoza for the filming and his whereabouts remain unknown but he vowed that his fighters would keep control of the area.