VIDEO,I AM ALIVE AND YOU HAVE NOT KILLED ANY OF MY MEN,TERRORIST LEADER DEBUNKS ARMY CLAIMS

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has appeared in a new video published online on Thursday, May 4 rejecting claims he had been injured in an airstrike in remote northeast Nigeria.

The jihadist chief was said to have been wounded and one of his deputies killed when two air force jets bombarded fighters at Balla village, on the edge of the Sambisa Forest in Borno state, last Friday.

Surveillance footage showed missiles being fired on what the air force said were Boko Haram fighters, while the army announced it had “neutralised quite a number of terrorists”, including those in Balla.

“There were indications that quite a number of the terrorists’ key leaders have either been killed or wounded,” army spokesman Brigadier-General Sani Usman said earlier Thursday, without naming Shekau.

But in a 14-minute video, the shadowy Boko Haram leader claimed ignorance of both the incident and the location, insisting he was not injured and that none of his key lieutenants was harmed either.

“I’m alive, I’m alive, I’m alive,” he said, wearing his trademark camouflage jacket and cradling an assault rifle.

“I’m alive, you have not killed any of my men. I didn’t even know this incident you are talking about ever happened.

“What surprises me is your claim that I’m nursing wounds. Look at me well. Look at my sitting posture.”

There was no indication where the video was shot

.