KANO, Nigeria – Nigerian Islamists blamed for scores of bomb blasts and shootings have purportedly threatened further attacks on military barracks in a statement obtained Wednesday that also taunts the army.
The threat was contained in a statement signed by Abu Zaid, identified as a spokesman for the Islamist sect known as Boko Haram.
It was anonymously distributed to journalists and its authenticity could not be verified.
It made reference to recent comments from army chief General Azubuike Ihejirika dismissing the Islamists as "cowards" for engaging in hit-and-run attacks.
"We consider your description of us as cowards as an affront that will not be ignored…We will soon continue with attacks on military barracks to prove our capability to General Ihejirika," the statement said.
"We have attacked you in your barracks and by Allah's grace we will do it again very soon," said the statement written in the Hausa dialect widely spoken in Nigeria's mainly Muslim north, where most of the violence has occurred.
The sect has claimed responsibility for deadly attacks on a number of markets located at military barracks.
Last month, it also claimed a bomb blast that struck a car park at national police headquarters in Abuja, saying it was a response to police chief Hafiz Ringim's remarks that the sect's days were numbered.
"We want to remind you (Ihejirika) to ask the inspector-general of police what the punishment of the boastful is," said the statement.
Hundreds of troops have deployed to the northeastern city of Maiduguri, where Boko Haram has carried out most of its attacks, but they have failed to stop the bomb blasts and drive-by shootings that have become almost daily occurrences.
A bomb targetting a military patrol wounded a soldier in Maiduguri on Tuesday night.
Soldiers have also been accused of shooting civilians and burning their homes over accusations that the residents cooperated with the Islamists. The military denies it targeted innocent people.
"If you have the capacity to fight us, go back to your barracks, evacuate your children and wives and see if we will not confront you within hours," the purported sect statement said.
Thousands of Maiduguri residents have fled the city in recent days out of fears of further violence.
A group of 18 Maiduguri elders calling themselves the Borno Elders Forum has called for the withdrawal of troops from the city, accusing soldiers of extra-judicial killings and rights violations against residents.
"We call for the total withdrawal of troops from Maiduguri because their presence has worsened the security situation in the city," Bulama Mali Gubio, one of the elders, told reporters.
Boko Haram launched an uprising in 2009 put down in a brutal military assault that left hundreds dead and its mosque and headquarters in Maiduguri destroyed.
Its then-leader, Mohammed Yusuf, was captured but then killed while in police custody. Seven policemen have reportedly been charged over the killing and were due to appear in court on Wednesday and Thursday.
Five policemen briefly appeared in court in the capital Abuja on Wednesday, but the case was adjourned to 19 July. No information was given on the case and the officers appeared to leave on their own recognizance.
Police said they could not comment, while prosecutors and defence lawyers also refused to speak.
