The leader of the dreaded Boko Haram, officially known as Jama’at Ahl as-Sunnah Lid Da’wah Wa’l- Jihad (JAS) Abubakar Shekau is believed to be dead following the invasion of Boko Haram’s stronghold in the Sambisa Forest by the Islamic State West Africa Province ISWAP fighters.
Sources said ISWAP – which broke away from Shekau’s Boko Haram faction in 2016 after pledging allegiance to Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISI), – raided Boko Haram’s hideout during the week using multiple gun trucks.
Clashes between the Shekau-led group and ISWAP are said to be not uncommon by local sources.
Shekau was reportedly given the opportunity to surrender but was secretly wearing a suicide vest, blowing himself up alongside everyone present during the tense negotiations.
Although there was no official statement or confirmation on the death of the most wanted terrorist leader, Shekau by Nigerian security forces, a lot of people took to their social media platforms celebrating Shekau’s death on Thursday morning.
Shekau had been the leader of Boko Haram since 2009 and his death has been reported on numerous other occasions.
He had been rumoured to have been killed at least four times between July 2009 and August 2015.
The following year the Nigerian Air Force claimed he had been “fatally wounded” by military bombardments, but Boko Haram released a video a month later showing their leader apparently alive and in good health.
