In the poor quality footage, which was released on Thursday, March 24, Shekau told his followers to surrender as "the end has come" for him.

“We are aware of the video but we are subjecting it to thorough forensic investigation. We wont take any action that can stop the ongoing offensives against the terrorists in all fronts. Every terrorist is free to surrender," an online news platform, Today, quoted a top military officer to have said.

“While the military is conscious of sustaining the tempo on its war against terrorism, the military intelligence will subject the undated and unverified video to forensic analyses.” the anonymous officer added.

READ: 7 things Boko Haram leader said in new video

Before the new video, the last time Shekau surfaced was in March 2015, when an audio message attributed to him was released pledging Boko Haram’s allegiance to the Islamic State militant group (ISIS), after which it rebranded itself as the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).