A brutal video is making the rounds on social media, showing suspected Boko Haram members decapitating a Nigerian Air Force officer in Borno State.
The seven-minute video, which ends with the gruesome killing of the Air Force officer, was first posted by SaharaTV on 22 July on YouTube.
Coincidentally, the video has emerged just a day after a Nigerian Air Force helicopter crashed in Borno State.
The victim in the footage is seen interrogated by the militants. However, the credibility of the video could not be verified yet.
In video, the victim identifies himself as Umar Abubakar, an Air Force officer with Section 9 of the Nigerian armed forces, which is a counter-insurgency unit formed exclusively to tackle the Boko Haram threat.
During the interrogation, members of the terrorist group affix an identity card belonging to the Nigerian Air Force on him, to prove that he is indeed an officer, the Daily Post reported.
Abubakar is seen telling the militants that his monthly salary is N40,000 and he reports to a commanding officer, who was a 2nd lieutenant.
"So you were sent to kill Boko Haram? And you are serving the state instead of Allah? We are members of Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati Wal-Jihad and Allah has given us an infidel today," one of the militants is heard saying in the video.
In one last attempt to save his life, Abubakar tells the Islamist extremists that he is also a Muslim but the group members dismissed his plea, while one of them is heard saying: "No amount of prayers will save you, we will judge you according to the Quran."
And then amidst chants of 'Allahu Akbar', the group is seen brutally decapitating the officer. The militants then proudly hold the officer's head up.
Incidentally, the video appeared only a day after a Nigerian Air Force helicopter was shot down by suspected Boko Haram militants around Borno State.
Two Air Force personnel were killed in the crash, while one was said to be critical.
The Mi-35 was flying over south of Bama, close to the rebel-held town of Damboa, when it lost contact.
Nigerian daily The Punch reported that the helicopter could have been blown off by Boko Haram militants. The Nigerian government, however, dismissed the claims as a rumor, without revealing much information.
