Boko Haram Proclaims ‘Islamic Caliphate’ In Nigeria

Former Minister of Internal Affairs, Senator Mohammed Magoro (left) with Comptroller General of Immigration, Mr David Parradang, at the 2014 Comptroller-General’s Annual Conference in Abuja last Friday. Photo: NAN

Boko Haram’s leader Abubakar Shekau yesterday  said he has created an Islamic caliphate in Gwoza town seized by the insurgents earlier this month,even as the Nigerian military has debunk the claim. In a video  released yesterday by the sect, Shekau said.
“Thanks be to Allah who gave victory to our brethren in 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  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 last week refused to deploy to Gwoza without better weapons in an apparent mutiny.
However, the Nigerian military has responded to the claim of the leader of the extremist group Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau that a northeast town seized by the insurgents earlier this month has been placed under an Islamic caliphate, in a new video.
The Defence Headquarters states that “the claim is empty. The sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Nigerian state is still intact.
“Any group of terrorists laying claim to any portion of the country will not be allowed to get away with the expression of delusion and crime.
“Appropriate military operations to secure that area from the activities of the bandits is still ongoing.”