Boko Haram Beheads Informant
A man accused of being an informant has been beheaded by Islamist group Boko Haram.
The
incident was recorded in a video obtained Tuesday in which the victim
accused of being an informant appears to be beheaded on camera.
Suspected
leader of the group, Abubakar Shekau, denies any ceasefire deal with
the government and also makes no mention of kidnappings in the video,
including last month’s abduction of seven members of a French family in
neighbouring Cameroon that was blamed on his group.
It was not
clear when or where the video was made. The clip has been distributed to
Nigerian journalists in the country’s north in recent days through
intermediaries.
Shekau and other Boko Haram members. PHOTO: AFP
Sources
familiar with Boko Haram say it was handed out in this manner because
Nigerian authorities have been blocking the group’s videos from being
uploaded to YouTube.
AFP could not verify the authenticity of the
video but the man speaking closely resembles a person identified in
previous clips as Shekau.
There are two separate parts to the
video: one of Shekau speaking and another of the apparent beheading.
Shekau cannot be seen in the second part.
The video is in part a
response to a man claiming to be a Boko Haram commander who has appeared
in public several times in recent months calling for dialogue and
declaring a ceasefire.
There has been deep suspicion over whether the man calling for the ceasefire has truly represented Boko Haram.
“We
have never made a truce with anybody, and no one represented us in any
dialogue,” Shekau, wearing a knee-length green caftan and with an AK-47
dangling from his neck, says in the video, which is about 10 minutes
long.
Speaking in the Hausa language common throughout northern
Nigeria, he names the man who made the ceasefire claim, Sheikh Muhammed
Abdulazeez Ibn Idris, and promises punishment for those who falsely
represent the group.
“We have not entered into dialogue with
anyone,” he says. “Which kind of dialogue, for God’s sake, when day and
night our brothers are being arrested, imprisoned, including women and
children?”
Shekau is flanked by six men holding weapons with their faces covered by headscarves, standing outdoors in an unknown location.
After
he finishes speaking, the video cuts to another clip that shows a man
with his hands and legs bound. A group of men pin him to the ground,
while one appears to slit his throat.
They later appear to behead
the victim, who is labelled an informant who provided information to the
military. Shekau cannot be seen in the clip of the apparent killing and
beheading.
Violence linked to Boko Haram’s insurgency in northern
and central Nigeria has led to the deaths of some 3,000 people since
2009, including killings by the security forces.
A video that
emerged on YouTube on February 25 showed the kidnapped French family as
well as their abductors, who claimed to be from Boko Haram, though the
video was significantly different from past footage attributed to the
group.
Boko Haram had never before claimed responsibility for a
kidnapping, though a splinter faction of the group, known as Ansaru, has
appeared to focus on abducting foreigners in recent months.
The group is believed to have a number of factions with varying aims.
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