Experts have confirmed the voice is Shekau’s.
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He said: “Nigeria is in a mess”.
In the 10-minute message, Shekau still called Baghdadi “caliph”.
The BBC reported Mr.al-Barnawi, who was previously the spokesman for the Boko Haram terrorists, was featured in the latest issue of an ISIS magazine.
While repeatedly acknowledging the legitimacy of Baghdadi, Shekau accused the Daesh leadership of ignoring correspondence in which he explained the situation within the group, adding: “We are therefore shocked to read the contents of the said [Barnawi] interview”. “This is a golden opportunity for Nigerian intelligence”, he said. Maiduguri is in Borno State, where Boko Haram was born.
Abu Musab al-Barnawi, thought to be a pseudonym, was named by the ISIS newspaper al-Nabaa on Wednesday as the new “Wali”, or governor, of its so-called West Africa Province.
South African security analyst Ryan Cummings told DW that co-operation between the jihadi groups could be purely nominal. In June, US officials have said that they had detected no significant financial or operational support from IS. Al-Barnawi is said to be allied to Ansaru, which split from Boko Haram in 2012 because it disagrees with the indiscriminate killing of civilians, especially Muslims.
According to the source, Barnawi left the base in the Sambisa with another Boko Haram commander, Mamman Nur, who is suspected by Nigerian authorities of carrying out the 2011 bombing of the United Nations building in the country’s capital, Abuja.
“We have heard news going round and attributed to people we had earlier pledge allegiance to”.
At the time, Boko Haram was the most powerful military force in northeast Nigeria, controlling a huge area and was better equipped and motivated than Nigerian forces.
Cracks are forming at the highest levels of the Nigeria-based extremist group, as NPR’s Ofeibea Quist-Arcton reports.
Ryan Cummings, director of Signal Risk consultancy, said Shekhau had fallen foul of Isil leaders after attacks on cities like Baga, a north eastern town whose residents were all but wiped out in January 2015.
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He said: “The leadership change in Boko Haram, as purportedly stated, does not in any way bother us, as the group is almost dead in Nigeria and other countries within the Lake Chad Basin”.
