By Rafiu Ajakaye

LAGOS, Nigeria 

Boko Haram factional chief Abubakar Shekau said in a new video on Tuesday that his men were behind last week's abduction of several policewomen in Nigeria's northeastern area of Damboa.

"I want to tell you that we were the ones who attacked the convoy...we were the ones that abducted the female police officers; in fact, they are senior female police officers," Shekau claimed in the 17-minute footage.

"What we did is nothing when compared to our women, children, and friends that have been wiped out or arrested for many years by the Nigerian government. We only abducted them to serve as slaves to us," according to the top militant who had repeatedly been reported killed by the local army.

Last Tuesday, a convoy of security agents was ambushed along Maiduguri-Damboa road. Several police officers and civilians in the convoy were injured as militants opened fire on them, with several security operatives escaping into the bush. Police confirmed one officer dead but has been silent on the abduction which were reported by many local media outlets.

Shekau did not say the exact number of the policewomen abducted by his men.

Nigeria’s police spokesman Jimoh Moshood has not responded to a request for comment on the militant’s claim.

Despite government's claim to have crushed the group, Boko Haram has resumed occasional physical attacks on security positions in the past weeks -- along with suicide attacks that continue to target civilians in Borno state.