Buhari Is A Liar And Has Deceived You -- Abubakar Shekau

Nigeria's military on Saturday claimed further gains in its
counter-offensive against Boko Haram, but the group's shadowy leader
Abubakar Shekau dismissed the talk of success as "lies".

Army spokesman Sani Usman said troops destroyed more rebel enclaves
and camps in the restive state of Borno, which has been worst hit by
the six-year Islamist insurgency.

"The fight against the terrorists in the northeast is gaining
successful momentum, with most of the camps falling to the Federal
might," he said in a statement.

A total of 62 people were rescued from around the town of Gwoza, which
last year Boko Haram declared the headquarters of its caliphate but
which it lost control of in March.

Some 77 men, women and children, most of them "haggard, dejected and
obviously malnourished", also arrived in the town of Bama on Saturday,
Usman said.

One man picked up said he had his right hand cut off by militants in
their Sambisa Forest stronghold in Borno last year, he said, adding
that eight Boko Haram suspects surrendered to troops.

Nigeria's military has claimed a series of successes against Boko
Haram recently and on Friday said it had rescued 90 people and
dislodged Boko Haram from two villages near Gwoza.

President Muhammadu Buhari in early August gave his new military
commanders three months to defeat Boko Haram, after six years of
violence, at least 15,000 dead and more than two million homeless.

– Audio message –

Shekau has not been seen on video since February and until an audio
message last month had not spoken since March, when he proclaimed Boko
Haram's allegiance to the so-called Islamic State group.

His absence sparked fresh rumours about whether he was still alive or
had been deposed as leader, with other videos this year fronted by an
unknown rebel under the name Islamic State in West Africa Province
(ISWAP).

Shekau said in a 25-minute recording in Hausa and Arabic via social media:

"They (the military) lied that they have confiscated our arms, that we
have been chased out of our territories, that we are in disarray.

"We are alive, I am alive, this is my voice, more audible than it was
before. This is Shekau."

He added: "Buhari is a liar and has deceived you. The army spokesman
is also lying. He and his footsoldiers always run helter-skelter
whenever we come face to face with them…
"Buhari, you once claimed that you will crush us in three months. How
can you crush us?"
Shekau directly refers to IS group leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, to
whom he says he is "loyal and subservient".
He also namechecks IS spokesman Abu-Mohammed al-Adnani and sends
"greetings to the faithful in Yemen", where there is also an IS
"affiliate".
There was no indication of where or when the recording was made but it
appears to have have been in recent days.
Shekau talks of Buhari's "deal with Hollande", referring to the
Nigerian president's three-day visit to Paris earlier this week, which
included talks with his French counterpart Francois Hollande.
He also dismissed as untrue Buhari's comments about "our brethren in prison".
Buhari this week said the Nigerian authorities were talking to Boko
Haram prisoners in their custody and could offer them amnesty if the
group hands over more than 200 schoolgirls abducted last year.

-Vanguard