The Real Abubakar Shekau Is Dead - SSS Spokesperson

Abubakar Shekau (screenshot from the video released in 2013)

After the release of another video showing the girls abducted by Boko Haram terrorists on Monday, May 12, 2014,  the spokesperson of the State Security Service (SSS) commented on the identity of the alleged group leader.

Speaking with journalists in Abuja on Monday evening, Marilyn Ogar said that the man claiming he is Abubakar Shekau is not actually him.

According to her, the real Shekau, the militant founder of the Boko Haram sect, is dead.

Abubakar Shekau (screenshot from the new video, May 2014)

SSS representative was quoted saying:

"Boko Haram has become a franchise, anybody can assume and lay claim to any name. If security sources tell you that somebody is dead, you don't have to come out and doubt that."

It is not the first time agencies say Shekau is dead. The man claiming responsibility for various attacks and making new threats is believed to have been cloned. Experts, who analysed some previous videos allegedly depicting Shekau, noted that the man in the video was younger, sinner and had different mannerisms (in comparison with the previous materials).

It should be also noted that in August 2013 the group leader reportedly died of a gunshot.

Meanwhile more than 230 girls kidnapped by Boko Haram insurgents in the April 14 night raid from Chibok, Borno State, are still missing. In the fresh video the girls are said to have been converted to Islam and are shown reciting the first chapter of the Qur'an and holding their palms upwards in prayer.

Watch the fresh video in full below: