Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau speaks at an unknown location in this still taken from an undated video released by the outfit.
Boko Haram leader Abu bakr ShekauYouTube screenshot

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau released a new video, claiming that he will free the abducted schoolgirls only when the Nigerian government hands over his men in their custody.

Shekau, who is also known by the alias Darul Tawheed, vowed that the 200-plus schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram in April will not be released, till the militants captured by the army are freed.

"Nigerians are saying BringBackOurGirls, and but are asking Jonathan to bring back our arrested warriors, our army," Shekau said in the video exclusively revealed by Premium Times.

In the video released on Sunday, Shekau also hailed terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria for its 'quest to see the face of Allah'.  

"To you my dear brethren, Muslims, those who are true believers and not those that practice democracy, not those who believe in constitution, not those who believe in western education. My greetings to you all," Shekau addresses in the video. He also specifically mentions ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and lauds him for his achievement.

Shekau also claimed responsibility for the Emab plaza bomb attack in Abuja on 25 June that killed more than 20. In the video, the Boko Haram leader gloated that the killings was a victory over the Constitution and Western influences.

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"God has given us victories of recent and we give thanks to Him. We were the ones that detonated bomb in Abuja, that filthy city; we were responsible for the bomb in Kano, in Plateau. We were the ones that sent a female bomber to the refinery in Lagos," Shekau said.

In the 10- minute footage, Shekau is seen sitting around a huge cache of weapons and ammunition, including several captured military vehicles.

The video ends with Shekau shooting in the air with his AK 47.

 

Shekau Mentions Nigerian Atheist

The Boko Haram leader also took a dig at the 29-year-old Nigerian Muslim Mubarak Bala, who denounced his religion. Shekau said people, like the young man in question, have been brainwashed by the Western education.

The case of Bala gained international attention, after it emerged that the young man was admitted in a mental hospital by his family, after he told them that he was an atheist.