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Nigeria: Military reports indicate that leader of militant Boko Haram may have been killed
(Reuters) – The leader of militant Islamist sect Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, may have died of gunshot wounds some weeks after a clash with soldiers, the Nigerian military said on Monday.
In a statement, the army said that Shekau, blamed for a campaign of deadly attacks on security targets and churches in the country’s north east, was hit during a gunbattle near one of his camps in the northeast on June 30.
He was then taken over the border into Cameroon where he was believed to have died between July 25 and August 3, according to the report issued by the military base in the northeast city of Maiduguri.
Intelligence reports “revealed that Abubakur Shekau, the most dreaded and wanted Boko Haram terrorist leader, may have died,” the statement read.
Al-Qaeda-linked Boko Haram wants to impose Islamic law in Nigeria’s north and was at one point the biggest threat to stability in Nigeria, a country that is soon to be Africa’s largest economy.
Though the death of Shekau would be a blow to Boko Haram’s campaign.
Shekau assumed the leadership of Boko Haram when its founder Mohammed Yusuf was killed in 2009. Since he took command the group’s activities intensified, resulting in attacks on churches and security installations.
He is the only high-profile member of Boko Haram, appearing in several videos posted on the Internet where, wagging his finger, he has sworn to bring down the government of President Goodluck Jonathan.
Shekau’s last public contact was thought to be in a video distributed to journalists in Maiduguri on August 13. Though the video looked and sounded like the same person in previous recordings, the military said on Monday it was a fake.
“The recent video was dramatized by an impostor to hoodwink the sect members to continue with the terrorism and to deceive the undiscerning minds,” its statement said.