The leader of the Nigerian Militant group Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau is dead. It was confirmed by rival Islamist militants in an audio that the group leader killed himself.
BBC reported that, ‘in an audio obtained by news agencies, the Islamist State West Africa Province (ISWAP) said Shekau died detonating explosives on himself after a battle between the two groups’.
The Nigerian militant leader of the Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, had been reported dead last month and has been reported killed before. Neither Boko Haram nor the Nigerian government have confirmed Abubakar Shekau’s death.
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What was the message in the audio?
In the undated audio recording, a voice thought to be that of Iswap leader Abu Musab al-Barnawi said Shekau “killed himself instantly by detonating an explosive”.
Al-Barnawi said, “ISWAP fighters hunted down the Boko Haram warlord and offered him the chance to repent and join them.”
He added that “Abubakar Shekau preferred to be humiliated in the afterlife than getting humiliated on earth.”
Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau’s reign
The Boko Haram leader took on his role after the death of the previous chief, Mohammed Yusuf who died in police custody. He led the group from an underground sect to a the terror it is now that swept North-East Nigeria.
Under his leadership, the Boko Haram staged bombings, kidnappings and prison breaks across the region. In 2014, it began taking over towns to convert them to Islamic states under Sharia law.
Shekau went ahead to orchestrated killings very similar to other Islamist groups to which he said, “I enjoy killing… the way I enjoy slaughtering chickens and rams.”
Since he took charge, more than 30,000 people have been killed and over two million displaced from their homes.
The group became more of a global menace after it kidnapped hundred of girls from a school in Chibok and released them <<Nigerian: 279 kidnapped schoolgirls finally released>> bringing about the #bringbackourgirlscampaign
Source: BBC