Nigeria’s Boko Haram leader is dead, says rival jihadist group ISWAP

Abubakar Shekau, the leader of the Nigerian militant group, Boko Haram, has committed suicide fighting against the rival jihadist group, the Islamic State's West Africa Province (ISWAP), the latter's leader reported in an audio recording released two weeks after initial reports of his death.

He was reportedly killed around 18 May after setting off a suicide explosive when pursued by ISWAP fighters following fighting. 

"Shekau preferred humiliation in the afterlife to humiliation on Earth," declares a voice appearing to be that of ISWAP leader, Abu Musab Al-Barnawi, in this recording given to Agence-France Presse (AFP) by a source that commonly relays the group's messages.

In the recording, ISWAP describes how its troops, sent to the Boko Haram-controlled enclave in Sambisa Forest, discovered Shekau sitting in his house and started fighting. The voice in the recording claims Shekau retreated and escaped, wandering through the bush for five days whilst being hunted down by ISWAP fighters.

After flushing him out in the bush, ISWAP’s fighters reportedly called on him and his followers to repent, but Shekau refused and killed himself, the speaker continued. "We are so happy," said the voice, adding that Shekau is "someone who has been guilty of unimaginable terrorism and atrocities."

Neither Boko Haram nor the Nigerian army have confirmed this death. Nor has the United States, which had offered $7 million for his capture. The Nigerian army says it is investigating.

Boko Haram is a jihadist terrorist organisation that gained international attention after abducting more than 270 schoolgirls from Nigeria’s Chibok town in 2014. ISWAP was previously a part of Boko Haram but split in 2016 and pledged its allegiance to the Islamic State. After gaining strength, it is now the dominant jihadist group in north-eastern Nigeria.

 

source: commonspace.eu with agencies
photo: Abubakar Shekau in a video screenshot; YouTube

Related articles

Editor's choice
News
Armenian leader meets Putin in the Kremlin

Armenian leader meets Putin in the Kremlin

Armenian prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, met at the Kremlin in Moscow, on Wednesday 1, April, with Russian president Vladimir Putin. The current state and prospects of Russian-Armenian strategic partnership and alliance, integration cooperation in the Eurasian region, and current issues on the regional agenda, in particular the development of economic and transport-logistics ties in the South Caucasus, were discussed, according to the Kremlin website. In his remarks before the meeting, Prime Minister Pashinyan said our relations with the Russian Federation are very deep, they are very important to us, and, in my opinion, they are developing dynamically in the context of the new realities in our region, when peace has finally been established between Armenia and Azerbaijan. And I think this has a positive impact on our relations with the Russian Federation, because for the first time since our independence, we have a railway connection with the Russian Federation. We import goods from Russia via Azerbaijan by rail. I hope we will also export in the near future. This, of course, strengthens our traditional economic ties, and it strengthens our ties within the Eurasian Economic Union. Regarding the European Union, of course, we know that, in principle, membership in the two associations is incompatible. But what we're doing and the agenda we have, at least for now, are compatible. That's a fact. And as long as there's an opportunity to combine these agendas, we will. And when processes develop to the point where a decision must be made, I'm confident that we, the citizens of the Republic of Armenia, will make that decision. Of course, in this context, our relations with the Russian Federation have never been and never will be in question, because, as I have already said, these ties and relations are very deep and not subject to discussion. (read the report in full by clicking the image at the top).

Popular

Editor's choice
Interview
Thursday Interview: Murad Muradov

Thursday Interview: Murad Muradov

Today, commonspace.eu starts a new regular weekly series. THURSDAY INTERVIEW, conducted by Lauri Nikulainen, will host  persons who are thinkers, opinion shapers, and implementors in their countries and spheres. We start the series with an interview with Murad Muradov, a leading person in Azerbaijan's think tank community. He is also the first co-chair of the Action Committee for a new Armenian-Azerbaijani Dialogue. Last September he made history by being the first Azerbaijani civil society activist to visit Armenia after the 44 day war, and the start of the peace process. Speaking about this visit Murad Muradov said: "My experience was largely positive. My negative expectations luckily didn’t play out. The discussions were respectful, the panel format bringing together experts from Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey was particularly valuable during the NATO Rose-Roth Seminar in Yerevan, and media coverage, while varied in tone, remained largely constructive. Some media outlets though attempted to represent me as more of a government mouthpiece than an independent expert, which was totally misleading.  Overall, I see these initiatives as important steps in rebuilding trust and normalising professional engagement. The fact that soon a larger Azerbaijani civil society visits to Armenia followed, reinforces the sense that this process is moving in the right direction." (click the image to read the interview in full)