Nigerian Boko Haram terrorist leader, Abubakar Shekau, declared that the coronavirus pandemic “was brought about by evil” as he ridiculed government Covid-19 health protection measures in a Twitter audio message on 14 April.
Meanwhile, analysts have flagged that attacks are stepping up in West Africa as Boko Haram and other terror groups take advantage of the global focus on coronavirus. Boko Haram and Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) activities around the Lake Chad region are intensifying while Covid-19 lockdowns continue in Chad and neighbouring Nigeria.
Shekau proclaimed that “nothing has changed” in the daily lives of the Islamist group. “We pray five times daily … we stick together. We join hands. We eat from one bowl. We are doing very, very, very well. We have anti-virus. You have coronavirus, we have anti-coronavirus,” he jeered.
“We thank you God for this pandemic”
“We thank you God for this pandemic,” ranted the jihadist who went on to hurl insults peppered with expletives at government leaders, including the presidents of Chad, Niger, Nigeria and the USA. His tirade was interspersed with pre-recorded gunshots ringing out in the background.
On 5 April, two Boko Haram terrorists detonated suicide bombs in the Far North Cameroonian town of Amchide, killing seven and injuring 15 in the predominately Christian region. Two teenagers and a village leader were among the dead.
