In the eight-minute Hausa-language message, Abubakar Shekau rebuffed claims by Chadian leader Idriss Deby that he had been replaced and called the president a "hypocrite" and a "tyrant".
It is indeed all over the global media of infidels that I am dead or that I am sick and incapacitated and have lost influence in the affairs of religion," he said in the recording released on social media.
Shekau's absence from Boko Haram videos in recent months has fuelled speculation that he might have been killed or wounded.He has not spoken publicly since he pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group in an audio recording released on March 7.
The jihadist commander refers to himself in the new recording for the first time as "leader of the west Africa wing" of IS and pays homage to its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, referring to him as the "Caliph of Muslims". He taunted Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari, who came to power on May 29 vowing to crush Boko Haram and ordered his military chiefs last week to end the insurgency within three months.This ostentatious person, a liar -- I mean Buhari, who raised arms to crush us in three months. You Buhari, why didn't you say in three years?" Shekau demanded.He further said they will fight until they establish Allah's law everywhere on Earth.
In recent weeks suicide bombers, many of them women, have staged several attacks in Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad.The four countries, plus Benin, have pledged troops towards a regional 8,700-strong force aimed at ending the insurgency and due to deploy within days.
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