The warning was made via a video tape released to a weekly tabloid based in Abuja, Nigeria's capital city.
The target of the attack according to Boko Haram's spokesman, Mallam Aliyu Teshako, will be the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Onyeabo Azubuike Ihejirika.
In a first exclusive one on one chat with THEWILL today in Abuja, Teshako warned that what Imam Abu Shekau's statement portends is that a very serious attack is about to happen. He said that the group is aware of what the federal government is doing to infiltrate its sect by sponsoring people like Abu Zaid to be portraying himself as a mouthpiece of the fundamentalist group.
But an attack on the Chief of Army Staff could force government to abandon the amnesty and peace deal it has offered members of the radical Islamic sect responsible for several bombings in the north including the bombing of the Police Force Headquarters in Abuja in June, this year, where the target was the chief of Police Hafiz Ringim.
Soldiers are presently occupying major streets in Maiduguri, Borno State, the sect's headquarters. Their mandate is to protect citizens and restore sanity in the state and environs according to the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshall Oluseyi Petinrin.
But Imam Shekau in the video warned Ihejirika saying, "When we decide to fight in the cause of Allah, we see you as a mere ant. I swear to God even your American helpers are not enough! God is with us.
"You call yourself Chief of Army Staff. Go and do your worst. There is nothing you can do against Allah... At the end you will be the loser. You will be killed for nothing," Shekau reportedly said.
Asserting that the sect will not reconcile with the apex government because government is persecuting Islam and Muslims through the use of brutal force, Shekau who was slain Muhammad Yusuf's deputy vowed that "what we ultimately aspire for is to be martyred, I swear on this path of God. This is our ultimate wish but you (security forces) are afraid to die.
"You must not deceive us. You should not deceive us. We know all the nonsense going on in this country. They claim they want to reconcile with us, yet they poison our brothers to death and then bury them in a mass grave. Right now we know what they are doing to our brothers in prisons. We are aware of how they persecute ordinary people in the city. They just want to satisfy themselves and persuade the people into believing that an offer of reconciliation was given to us and we rejected it. You shouldn't do that," Shekau said in the tape.
Shekau however gave conditions for reconciliation citing various Holy Qur'an verses: "Good deeds and conveyance of truth (Surah 93 and 103). Sura 3 verse 64, "Oh people of the Book come forward to the thing that is common between us that we do not worship anyone other than God and will not associate anybody with Him, nor will anyone of us make any other entity as Rabb (Lord, Benefactor, Sustainer). Sura 65 verse 68 God, "Oh people of the Book you are without any content unless you adhere to Torah and Bible and to that which has been revealed to you (the Qur'an)." Sura 65 verse 68, "Oh people of the Book you are without any content unless you adhere to Torah and Bible and to that which has been revealed to you (the Qur'an)," and (Qur'an 8:1)26: "Fear God, and make reconciliation among yourselves."
Shekau said the verses translates into unconditional release of all of its members, withdrawal of troops from the North-East, particularly Maiduguri and cessation of all forms of persecution of all Muslims, especially their members, saying it is amongst other conditions the group is seeking as a prelude to having successful talks with the government.
Source....
Source...
