Boko Haram leader denies reports of his death, mocks parents of missing girls

Boko Haram’s strong leader, Abubakar Shekau, appears in a new video to deny reports of his death and to mock the parents of over 200 kidnapped girls from their boarding school in 2014.

The video released on Sunday was a response to the Nigerian army’s claim that it “fatally wounded” Shekau in a raid August 19.

“To the despot Nigerian government: Die with envy. I’m not dead,” Shekau says in the video.

While the army dismissed the video Sunday as evidence of Shekau’s desperation.

“The video has shown beyond all reasonable doubt the earlier suspicion that the purported factional terrorists’ group leader is mentally sick and unstable,” the army statement said.

Boko Haram, which opposes western education, wants to set up an Islamic caliphate in Nigeria.

In the video, Shekau teases parents of the Chibok schoolgirls about whether their daughters will be released and insists detained Boko Haram fighters must be released for the return of the schoolgirls.

However, the reports fail to confirm when the video was shot, or confirm its claims