Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau emerges, dismisses claims of his death

In a 36 minutes video released exclusively to AFP, Boko Haram leader, Shekau Abubakar has dismissed reports of his death. Shekau, pictured above from the video, is quoted by AFP as saying he's alive and that his members are running their captured towns.

"Here I am, alive. I will only die the day Allah takes my breath. Nothing will kill me until my days are over... I'm still alive. Some people asked you if Shekau has two souls. No, I have one soul, by Allah. It is propaganda that is prevalent. I have one soul. I'm an Islamic student. I'm the Islamic student whose seminary you burnt... I'm not dead,"

He went further to say "We are running our caliphate, our Islamic caliphate. We follow the Koran... We now practice the injunctions of the Koran in the land of Allah," he said.

AFP also reports that the insurgency group claimed in the video to have shot down a Nigerian air force jet that went missing nearly three weeks ago.