Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has threatened Cameroon in a video message on YouTube, warning that the same fate would befall the country as neighbouring Nigeria.
The video, which was posted on January 5, is directly addressed to Cameroon’s President Paul Biya after repeated fighting between militants and troops in the country’s far north. “Oh Paul Biya, if you don’t stop this, your evil plot, you will taste what has befallen Nigeria... Your troops cannot do anything to us,” Shekau said in Arabic.
Paul Biya has been mentioned by Shekau before but it is first time that he has directly addressed Cameroon and is the first admission that Boko Haram has been actively operating in the country.
Boko Haram fighters had in the past launched attacks on northeastern Nigeria from bases inside Cameroon but recent months have seen an increase in strikes within the country.