Nigeria's Islamic extremist group Boko Haram has reportedly pledged formal allegiance to Islamic State.
The pledge, which came after Boko Haram was dislodged from a score of north-eastern towns by an international force, came in an Arabic audio message with English subtitles alleged to have come from leader Abubakar Shekau and posted on Twitter.
“We announce our allegiance to the Caliph of the Muslims ... and will hear and obey in times of difficulty and prosperity, in hardship and ease, and to endure being discriminated against, and not to dispute about rule with those in power, except in case of evident infidelity regarding that which there is a proof from Allah,” said the message.
Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has declared himself the caliph.
Earlier, the Nigerian extremist group was blamed for four suicide bomb attacks that police said killed at least 54 people and wounded 143 in the north-east city of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state and birthplace of Boko Haram.
The blasts occurred over four hours in locations from a busy fish market to a crowded bus station, said police commissioner Clement Adoda.
A fifth explosion from a car bomb at a military checkpoint 50 miles outside the city wounded a soldier and two members of a civilian self-defence unit. The bomber apparently wanted to reach Maiduguri, said a police officer at the scene.
In the deadliest blast, 18 people died when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a tricycle taxi at the entrance to the bustling Baga fish market, police said.
“I saw many dead bodies lying on the ground, many dead, and several others badly injured,” said fish seller Idi Idrisa.
The Boko Haram pledge to Islamic State comes as the Nigerian militants reportedly are massing in the north-eastern town of Gwoza, considered their headquarters, for a showdown with the Chadian-led multinational force.
Though there was no way to independently verify the message, it comes weeks after Boko Haram’s new Twitter account broadcast that the group’s Shura council was considering whether to swear formal allegiance to Islamic State.
The Twitter account, increasingly slick and more frequent video messages from Boko Haram, and a new media arm all are considered signs that the group is being helped by Islamic State propagandists.
Boko Haram in August followed the lead of Islamic State in declaring an Islamic caliphate in north-east Nigeria that grew to cover an area the size of Belgium. Islamic State had declared a caliphate in vast swathes of territory that it controls in Iraq and Syria.
The Nigerian group has also begun publishing videos of beheadings. The latest one, published March 2nd, borrowed certain elements from Islamic State productions, such as the sound of a beating heart and heavy breathing immediately before the execution, according to the SITE Intelligence monitoring service.
In earlier video messages last year, Shekau sent greetings and praise to both al-Baghdadi and leaders of al-Qaeda.
But Boko Haram has never been an affiliate of al-Qaeda. Some analysts surmise this is because al-Qaeda considers the Nigerians’ indiscriminate slaughter of Muslim civilians to be un-Islamic.
PA