Military,Governor Slam Claim Of New Caliphate In North-Eastern Nigeria

(Updated)The Nigerian military has reacted to the claim of the leader of the extremist group Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau that a northeast town seized by the insurgents earlier this month has been placed under an Islamic caliphate, in a new video.
In a tweet on its twitter handle, the Defence Headquarters states that “the claim is empty. The sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Nigerian state is still intact.
“Any group of terrorists laying claim to any portion of the country will not be allowed to get away with the expression of delusion and crime.
“Appropriate military operations to secure that area from the activities of the bandits (are) still ongoing” DHQ said.
Also ,in his personally written response to enquiry by journalists over the reported declaration of Gwoza as an insurgents’ territory, Borno Governor Kashim Shettima said :”With very due respect, I cannot comment on the authenticity or otherwise of that video in question, I will leave that to security experts. I also cannot disclose measures being adopted by security agencies on whatever development in Gwoza or any part of Borno State but I can assure the good people of Borno State and other members of the public that the State Government is actively in touch and supporting security agencies deployed to Borno State in the counter insurgency efforts and insha Allah, the combined efforts will not be in vain. We are not just studying the situation with collaborative tact and urgency but indeed, appropriate measures are being taken by the right authorities.
“For now, I urge the good people of Borno State to remain calm and resolute in their support for security agencies, abiding fate and prayers. The security agencies, I am sure, are in position to analyse the content of the said new video, compare with the facts on ground in Gwoza and brief the Nigerian public as they deem professionally appropriate bearing in mind the National interest and patriotism as well as the overall safety of citizens.
Shettima said further “Let me use this opportunity to while thanking members of the Nigerian and International media for their firm support for Borno people and its government since this insurgency crisis in 2009, make a strong appeal that we do not dramatise and sensationalise issues such as the one connected with Gwoza, so that we all do not fall for the objective of insurgents, which is to at all times, claim victory over our sovereign State, our rights to existence, our freedom and our liberty, as it is always their goal to create so much panic that would make anyone who doesn’t share their ideology feel unsafe and defeated.
“Even as those of us in the media work tirelessly to disseminate information in the discharge of important duties that aim to protect the fundamental rights of the public to know happenings within and around them, we must at this moment, more than ever before, do our jobs with patriotic support for our country and its security forces as well as our passion for humanity as against those that seek to send humanity into extinction. As disturbing as what is said to be the development is, I remain very optimistic that victory will never go the way of those that violently stand between fellow human beings and their divine rights to exist as God’s creatures on earth”,the governor said.