Leader of the radical Islamic sect, Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, on has owned up the Monday’s bombing in Nyanya Motor Park, Abuja that killed at least 75 people.
Shekau in a video message today said, “We are the ones that carried out the attack in Abuja.”
Shekau said in the 28-minute video, referring to the deadliest attack ever in Nigeria’s capital, which targeted a bus station packed with morning commuters.
Seated with a kalashnikov resting on his left shoulder and dressed in military uniform, the insurgent commander spoke in both Arabic and the Hausa language that is dominant in northern Nigeria.
The message was delivered to AFP in a manner consistent with previous videos from Boko Haram. The bombing at the Nyanya bus terminal on the outskirts of Abuja was the first major attack in the capital in two years.
Most of the insurgents’ violence in recent months had been concentrated in the group’s remote northeastern stronghold in Borno, where the military is waging an 11-month-old offensive.
The attack in Abuja underscored the serious threat the insurgents pose to Africa’s most populous country and top economy.
Shekau indicated that Boko Haram has fighters based in the capital.
“We are in your city,” he said, addressing President Goodluck Jonathan.
Shekau has been declared a global terrorist by the United States of America, which has put a $7 million bounty on his head.
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