In a video made available to AFP, leader of Islamist sect, Boko Haram Abubakar Shekau has on Sunday, August 24, 2014 declared that he has created a caliphate in Gwoza, a town hijacked by the terrorists earlier this month.
“Thanks be to Allah who gave victory to our brethren in (the town of) Gwoza and made it part of the Islamic caliphate,” Abubakar Shekau said in the 52-minute video.
He added that by the grace of Allah, he and his comrades will not leave the area as they have come to stay.
Abubakar Shekau has been designated a global terrorist by the United States and sanctioned by the UN Security Council.
According to The United Nations humanitarian office (OCHA) Gwoza is under full control of the terror group.
In recent times, Boko Haram have succeeded in taking over swathes of land near Gwoza in southern Borno state as well as other areas in northern Borno and a reported 1 town in Yobe state, which shares border with troubled Borno state.
The accurate mapping of areas garnered by Boko Haram is somewhat impossible.
Although travel in the region is extremely dangerous, there are still a handful of aid workers in the area which has been under state of emergency since May 2013, with phone network coverage almost impossible .
The successful advance of the insurgents in the recent past has come as a surprise to experts as the group is seemingly close to achieving success in carving out an Islamic caliphate in Northern Nigeria, although analyst say the Nigerian military has the capacity to reverse their gains.
Reports say Nigerian soldiers deployed to recapture Gwoza town refused to advance unless they are better equipped in what is thought to be a mutiny.
