A new video said to have been released by Boko Haram on Wednesday surfaced online showing about 100 of its members observing the Eid Al-Adha prayer in an undisclosed bushy area in Niger State.
Muslim faithful across the world celebrated Sallah, Eid Al-Adha last Friday.
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An analyst and human rights lawyer, Bulama Bukarti, who shared the development on twitter, said: “This video, if genuine, is further evidence that BH has expanded to the north-central.
“The dense forest there is a perfect haven for terrorists and if the group is able to consolidate its presence in Niger, it can easily target Abuja as well as to other states like Kwara and Kogi.”
He also expressed worries that the insurgents may have killed some military officers and taken possession of their uniforms.
According to him, “It’s interesting that two of the fighters were respectively wearing Nigerian military & police uniforms. This indicates that they might’ve recently killed security forces and got their uniforms. This is because in their past video, the only speaker from Niger was in mufti.”
In the video, after the prayers, three of the suspected insurgents sent Eid greetings in Hausa, English, and Fulfulde.
One of the men dressed in a Nigerian police uniform, said: “It’s we the Jamahatu Ali Sunna li Dawatul Jihad in the location of Niger State. We want to send our Sallah salutation, first of all to our imam, Abu Muhammad Ibn Muhammad Abubakar Shekau”.
