Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, has died after surrendering to Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters, a report said on Thursday.
He was said to have blown himself up on Wednesday after his base in the Sambisa forest in Borno State was raided
by ISWAP insurgents.
There were sayings that they have tracked Shekau to his stronghold and engaged his bodyguards in a gun battle before
venturing to capture the Boko Haram leader.
After his bodyguards were subdued, Shekau surrendered and was asked to step down and order his group to
declare their loyalty to ISWAP, online platform Humangle reported.
Apparently opposed to the idea, the Boko Haram leader was said to have blown himself up, killing some others
around him in the process.
Shekau had taken over the leadership of Boko Haram following the death of its founder, Mohammed Yusuf, after
which he launched a full-scale campaign against the Nigerian state.
In 2016, a faction of the terrorist group broke away from Boko Haram to form ISWAP after pledging allegiance to
the Islamic State (IS).
Military claiming to have Killed Shakau before
The military had at several times claimed to have killed Shekau, but the terrorist leader had released videos after
such claims to denounce it and insisted that he was alive.
The activities of the terrorist groups – both Boko Haram and ISWAP – have led to the death and injury of thousands
and rendered millions of others homeless in the restive north-eastern region of the country.
Trouble in the region, spanning over a decade, has left Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa States as the worst-hit by the
insurgency.
In the build-up to the 2015 general elections, the insurgents had taken over some communities in Borno but the
terrorists were later displaced by the security forces.
Recently, the terrorists engaged in renewed attacks on some communities in the North East, especially in Yobe
where they hoisted flags in some villages, forcing the locals to flee.
They also expanded their activities to the north-central where Governor Bello Abubakar of Niger State said the
insurgents had taken over Kauri community in Shiroro Local Government Area of the state.
Despite the attacks by the insurgents, the Presidency has insisted that the terrorists had been technically defeated by the military.
By Cynthia N.
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