Boko Haram said to swear allegiance to Islamic State

The leader of Boko Haram has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in an audio message disseminated on social media on Saturday.

The unverified message was posted on the Nigeria-based Islamist terror group’s Twitter page and appeared to be a recording by the African Islamist group’s leader Abubakar Shekau.

“We announce our allegiance to the Caliph of the Muslims, Ibrahim ibn Awad ibn Ibrahim al-Husseini al-Qurashi,” said the voice on the message, which was believed to be that of Shekau and was released through Boko Haram’s Twitter account.

Qurashi is better known as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the IS group which has proclaimed a caliphate in parts of Syria and Iraq.

If confirmed, Boko Haram’s swearing of allegiance to the Islamic State would be the latest in a series of groups joining forces with the Islamist group operating in Iraq and Syria. Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, a terror organization in the Sinai Peninsula, and Ansar al-Sharia, a Libyan rebel group, have both said to swear fealty to the Islamic State in recent months.

The announcement came hours after a string of deadly bombings in Nigeria that bore the hallmarks of Boko Haram terrorist attacks. Four suicide bomb attacks Saturday hit the city of Maiduguri killing at least 54 people and wounding 143 in the heartland of Nigeria’s northeastern Islamic uprising, police said.

The blasts occurred over four hours in locations from a busy fish market to a crowded bus station, said Police Commissioner Clement Adoda.

A fifth explosion from a car bomb at a military checkpoint 75 kilometers (50 miles) outside the city wounded a soldier and two members of a civilian self-defense unit. The bomber apparently wanted to reach Maiduguri, said a police officer at the scene who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not allowed to speak to the press.

In the deadliest blast, 18 people died when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a tricycle taxi at the entrance to the bustling Baga fish market, police said.

“I saw many dead bodies lying on the ground, many dead, and several others badly injured,” said fish seller Idi Idrisa.

About an hour later a second explosion rocked the Post Office shopping area near the market, according to witness Baban Musa, who said there were many casualties.

A third blast was detonated at Monday Market, the biggest in Maiduguri, and a fourth explosion ripped through the Borno Express bus station.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks but they bear the hallmarks of the Boko Haram Islamic extremist group. Maiduguri is the birthplace of Boko Haram and the extremists have tried to seize the city with armed assaults by hundreds of fighters and have made it the target for many bombings since they were driven from their base there after a military state of emergency was declared in May 2013.