This is what it looks like when Boko Haram comes to town

New video footage from the group reportedly shows the Nigerian Islamists laying claim to a new town in Nigeria

The Nigerian Islamists Boko Haram has released new footage purportedly showing the group taking over a new town as the extremists step up their campaign in the north of Nigeria. (ITN)

The Nigerian Islamists Boko Haram have released new footage purportedly showing the group taking over a new town as the extremists step up their campaign in the north of Nigeria.

The footage shows tanks moving into the town as locals stand watching, some waving flags. Armed men can then be seen waving Kalashnikovs in the air as a tank performs a donut in the middle of the street.

The footage comes after a suicide bomber, disguised in school uniform, set off explosives in a backpack on Monday at a high school in northern Nigeria that killed at least 48 students and wounded 79. It is believed the attack was orchestrated by Boko Haram, which means "Western education is forbidden.

Boko Haram has been fighting against the Nigerian government for the last five years as it attempts to create an Islamist enclave in the north-eastern region of the country.

Monday's bombing came a week after another suicide attack in Potiskum, the capital of Yobe state, killed 30 people.

While the Nigerian military claimed they had killed Shekau last year, the video shows Shekau giving a speech in a small room.

The footage was given to local journalists in Nigeria through the same channels the group has used over the past few years to distribute their material and propaganda.

The new video once again shows how the Nigerian Islamists have intensified their attacks in recent weeks despite the government announcing last month that they had agreed a cease-fire with the militants. The government also said that the 276 girls who were abducted from Chibok secondary school in April would be released imminently. However, Boko Haram leader Shekau has denied any agreement and the girls have not been set free and that many had in fact been married off to fighters.