Nigeria's presidential election on March 28 will not take
place peacefully, AbuBakr Shekau, leader of Boko Haram, has said in a new video
purportedly released by the group.
In the video, released on social media on Tuesday and
obtained by US based SITE intelligence group, Shekau issued a warning to the
Goodluck Jonathan's government that next month's elections would be disrupted
with violence.
"Allah will not leave you to proceed with these
elections even after us, because you are saying that authority is from people
to people, which means that people should rule each other, but Allah says that
the authority is only to him, only his rule is the one which applies on this
land," he said.
"And finally we say that these elections that you are
planning to do, will not happen in peace, even if that costs us our lives.
In the video message, titled "A message to the leaders
of the disbelievers", the contents of which Al Jazeera has not been able
to independently verify, Shekau also takes aim at the leadership of regional
countries who are co-ordinating efforts against the group.
"You are claiming that we don't know how to fight, but
we forced your forces to flee from their bases and we freed our imprisoned
brothers from the prisons that you oppressed them in, only praise be to
Allah."
Nigeria's presidential election was to be originally held on
February 14, but was postponed due to security concerns.
Speaking before Shekau's threat, Niger's President Mahamadou
Issoufou vowed that his country would herald the end for the rebels, whose
six-year insurgency has cost more than 13,000 lives.
Renewed attacks
"Niger will be the death of Boko Haram," he told a
cheering crowd after a protest against the insurgents in the capital Niamey.
But Boko Haram has proved resilient and experts question
whether the group can be overpowered in the short-term.
On Tuesday, two suicide attacks ripped through northeast
Nigeria, killing at least 38 people and injuring 20 others.
In a separate development, the United States military said
on Tuesday they would be providing communications equipment and intelligence to
help African nations in the fight against Boko Haram.
Major General James Linder said that, as part of the annual
US-backed 'Flintlock' counter-terrorism exercises this year in Chad, the United
States would provide technology allowing African partners to communicate
between cellphones, radios and computers.
The renewed attacks on Tuesday came as heads of states from
Central African countries were ending a meeting in the Cameroonian capital,
Yaounde, to plan the creation of a joint military response to the growing
regional threat posed by Boko Haram.
The 10 member states announced that they had contributed
more than 50 percent of the $100m needed to fight Boko Haram. They also called
on Nigeria to cooperate by allowing the multinational joint task force to
attack Boko Haram in its strongholds in Nigeria.
Boko Haram has fought a five-year insurgency, has recently
begun stepping up its attacks against neighbouring countries after Cameroon,
Niger, Chad and Benin agreed to contribute troops toward a regional military
effort.
The violence has forced some 157,000 people to seek refuge
in Niger, while 40,000 others have gone to Cameroon and 17,000 are in Chad, the
UN said.
Almost one million Nigerians are internally displaced,
according to the country's own statistics.
Source: Agencies
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