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| - A 43-year-old man was remanded in custody in Britain on Thursday for allegedly sharing a video by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram on WhatsApp. Shakil Chapra, from Slough, west of London, is accused of one count of dissemination of terrorist publications contrary to the Terrorism Act 2006. Westminster Magistrates' Court in central London was told he allegedly shared the video on September 11 last year. No plea was entered and Chapra spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth and address during the short hearing. He was ordered to appear at the Central Criminal Court on November 20. The British government designated Boko Haram, which operates mainly in northeast Nigeria, a proscribed terrorist organisation in July 2013. At least 36,000 people have been killed and some two million others displaced from their homes in its jihadist insurgency since 2009, according to the UN. It claimed responsibility for the 2014 abduction of 276 schoolgirls in the remote town of Chibok, which caused global outrage and focused attention on the brutal conflict. Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group in 2015, has recorded frequent video messages over the years. A separate splinter group, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), also operates in the remote Lake Chad region, where Nigeria meets Chad, Cameroon and Niger. phz/jwp/tgb
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