... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
Salafist tough guys said on Wednesday that the Nigerian military offensive is failing in its goal of crushing the four-year-old insurgency.
Abubakar Shekau's statement, in a video seen by Rooters, was the first word from Boko Haram since President
Goodluck Jonathan... 14th President of Nigeria. He was Governor of Bayelsa State from 9 December 2005 to 28 May 2007, and was sworn in as Vice President on 29 May 2007. Jonathan is a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). He is a lover of nifty hats, which makes him easily recognizable unless someone else in the room is wearing a neat chapeau...
declared a state of emergency on May 14 in the three northeastern states worst hit by the insurgency.
Thousands of extra troops were sent to the region and Boko Haram camps were hit with air strikes. The military has since claimed that gunnies have been halted.
Shekau denied he was losing the battle.
"My fellow brethren from all over the world I assure you that we are strong, hail and hearty since they launched this assault on us following the state of emergency declaration," he said, dressed in camouflage with an AK-47 rifle resting behind him.
"When they launch any attack on us you see soldiers fleeing and throwing away their weapons like a rabbit that is been hunted down," he added, speaking in a mixture of Arabic and the Hausa language common in northern Nigeria.
Shekau asked his "brethren" in Iraq, Pakistain, Afghanistan and Syria to join what he called Boko Haram's Holy War.
The video goes on to show apparently dead bodies in military uniform and charred camouflaged vehicles which Shekau said were evidence of victories in festivities with soldiers.
The military assault in the semi-deserts along the borders with Cameroon, Chad and Niger is Jonathan's biggest effort yet to end the insurgency. Security sources said soldiers from Niger and Cameroon are also involved.
It follows a surge in violence in Nigeria's northeast by Boko Haram, which wants to establish an Islamic state there.
Nigeria's population of 170 million is split roughly evenly between Christians, who dominate in the south, and Musselmens, who are the majority in the north.
The military has said it has locked away
... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not...
more than 100 krazed killers, freed hostages and killed several Boko Haram members in recent days. But its statements made no mention of the sort of counter-strikes Boko Haram have launched in the past.
Shekau said only seven Boko Haram members have been killed since the offensive began.
The Defence Ministry said last week that the gunnies had been dislodged but security experts doubt it will be easy to defeat an enemy adept at re-arming and counter-attacking in remote regions where they have operated in for years.
It has been impossible to verify the claims of Shekau or the military because telephone services have been disconnected for 12 days in Borno state, where the bulk of the fighting has taken place.
Jonathan said last week he would free a number of locked away
Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up!
Islamist suspects, mostly women and kiddies, in what security sources believe was a move to build popular support. He has also offered amnesty to gunnies who lay down their weapons.