A man identifying himself as Abubakar Shekau, the man believed to lead the jihadist terror group Boko Haram, appears in a new video threatening to expand the group’s terrorist activities deeper into Cameroon, Nigeria’s neighbor. The video is filmed from afar at different angles, which does not allow experts to accurately identify the man.
“Oh [Cameroon President] Paul Biya, if you don’t stop this, your evil plot, you will taste what has befallen Nigeria… Your troops cannot do anything to us,” Shekau shouted.
It is the first time Boko Haram “directly addressed Cameroon and is also the first admission that Boko Haram has been actively operating in the country.” The terrorist group has attacked numerous villages in Cameroon, but never acknowledged the attacks. The latest attack on January 3 left fifteen dead on a bus in the north. Medical personnel transported ten wounded victims to Maroua, the capital of the Far North region. It also suffered “the worst of the spillover of Nigeria’s conflict.”
“Boko Haram elements on Thursday attacked a bus that was transporting many passengers from Kousseri to Maroua and killed 25 persons on the spot,” stated one senior officer in Cameroon.
On Sunday, Cameroon lawmakers demanded Biya implement a detailed security plan to fight against Boko Haram.
“When we come back in March we have to raise it because it is great concern for all Cameroonians and particularly for elected officials,” said Member of Parliament Joseph Banadzem. “We are insisting that we need to do a little bit more in order to tackle the issue of Boko Haram. We have been pressing our government to get all the stakeholders onboard and involve every person who can give information, who can act in a way that our activities should be fruitful.”
On January 10, just a day before Cameroon’s attack, Boko Haram slaughtered up to 2,000 people in sixteen villages in northeast Nigeria. The attack forced thousands of others to flee their homes. Witnesses told the media they stepped over trails of dead bodies to escape the massacre. No one could bury the dead. Homes and businesses burned to the ground.
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