Boko Haram says it is ready for 'war' under US President-Elect Trump

Abubakar Shekau, the leader of the Nigerian jihadist group Boko Haram has reacted to the election of Donald Trump as the United States presidency saying “the war is just beginning.”

In an audio message published on the group’s YouTube page on Sunday night, Shekau said they will “not be fooled by people like Donald Trump or anyone in the coalition who is fighting our brothers in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan or anywhere else.”

“We’re done with Obama, now we’re going to start with Trump … We remain convinced by our faith and we will not stop. For us, the war is just beginning,” he said in the Hausa language.

Boko Haram, which is widely believed to be weak and divided, pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group in March 2015.

The group released 21 out of the over 200 kidnapped school girls from Chibok after negotiations with the Nigerian government.

Over 20,000 people have died and 2.6 million displaced since 2009 when Abubakar Shekau took over as the head of Boko Haram.