Jihadists confirmed death of leader of Boko Haram terrorist group in Nigeria



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Archive image of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau (Youtube)
Archive image of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau (Youtube)

The jihadist group Islamic State of the West African Province (ISWAP) confirmed this Saturday the death of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, who allegedly blew himself up last May during his capture by this rival split.

According to an internal message viewed by Nigerian media HumAngle, ISWAP chief Abu Musab Albarnawi confirmed Shekau’s death; which he described in Hausa (one of Nigeria’s local languages) as the “leader of disobedience and corruption”.

Like other critical voices, ISWAP criticized the leader of the jihadist group Boko Haram for attacking Muslims and the civilian populationbecause it was under Shekau’s leadership that Boko Haram began indiscriminately killing civilians and using children and women in suicide bombings.

EFE He could not confirm this death independently as he could not contact army spokesman Mohammed Yerima, who said for months that investigations into what had happened were continuing. .

According to HumAngle, Shekau first managed to escape the ambush perpetrated by his group, and wandered for about five days in the Sambisa forest -boko Haram stronghold- until he was found by rival members, who asked him to surrender. But he decided to commit suicide: “Shekau preferred to be humiliated in the hereafter than to humiliate himself on earth,” Albarnawi said according to HumAngle.

FILE PHOTO: Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau speaks to guards at an unknown location in Nigeria in this still image from an undated video taken on January 15, 2018 (Sahara Reporters via REUTERS)
FILE PHOTO: Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau speaks to guards at an unknown location in Nigeria in this still from an undated video taken on January 15, 2018 (Sahara Reporters via REUTERS)

In recent years, Shekau’s death had been announced up to five times, the last in August 2015, when he was allegedly killed during an offensive by Chadian forces, which he himself denied shortly after in an audio message.

ISWAP, which split from Boko Haram in 2016 and joined the jihadist organization Islamic State (IS), has increased the violence suffered by the northeast of the country with its attacks, in addition to provoking clashes between the two factions.

Commanded by Shekau, Boko Haram also abducted 276 girls from a boarding school in the town of Chibok (Borno) in 2014, an event that drew strong international condemnation.

More than 35,000 people have died and the number of displaced is around two million by the bloody campaign of Boko Haram, according to UN reports.

With information from the EFE

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