The Islamic State in West Africa Province, (ISWAP), has released a new video showing its members celebrating the recent Eid-el-Kabir festival in different locations believed to be in the shores of the Lake Chad and other villages controlled by the group in Borno State.

This newspaper had, on the eve of the sallah reported that the terror group was making elaborate plans to celebrate the festival in its enclaves and had assigned imams to lead prayers at different locations.

In a 12’38 video in which all faces were blurred, men and children were filmed praying in open fields and participating in different aspects of the festival, including animal sacrifice in line with the Eid tradition.

The blurred faces of the persons in the video was a deviation from the group’s tradition.

A song in Hausa had preceded the sermon in which the singing group chorusing, ‘let’s come together and defeat the infidels who worship the false deities. Today we are happy and thanking God as we celebrate Sallah.’

After reciting some verses of the song the unnamed person gave a short talk in Hausa assuring members of the group still in detention that they will be freed soon.

He expressed happiness over the group’s recent prison break in which it freed its jailed members from Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja.

He said, “We thank God and with His power we are celebrating Eid-el-Adha. It’s a double celebration for us: celebrating the Eid and also freeing our brothers from Kuje prison, which is a great blessing the almighty bestowed to His servants; we are really grateful…

“Our message to our brethren in Iraq, Syria and other Islamic States, you have stirred up the alert ears of the lion which would be restless until we demonstrated the result in real sense. And for those still in detention, we have not, and we would never forget about you as long as we are alive.

“You should know that there’d be a repeat of the Kuje incident when you can see the jihadists chanting ‘Allahu Akbar’ over your head, to free you from your enemies.

“We are informing the entire Muslim community, worldwide and all the brethren (Mujahedeen) in places like Iraq and Yemen that Allah has made us to witness and celebrate Eid with joy and in peace. As Allah said in the Quran: “And the best outcome is for the righteous,’’ he read.

The video also showed a man distributing food, drinks and sweets to celebrants. (Daily Trust: Text, excluding headline)

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