Boko Haram’s alleged new leader has confirmed that its “impossible” commander, Abubakar Shekau, died in May while battling an outbreak, he said in a video.
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In the short video in Arabic, Boko Haram commander Bakura Modu, also known as Sahaba, urged his faction commander to remain loyal despite the loss of their historic commander.
Shekau’s death is seen as a major shift in Nigeria’s conflict, although Daesh in the West African province (ISWAP) has recently emerged as the dominant force in the more than ten-year-long terrorist uprising in the country’s northeast.
The video, provided to Agence France-Presse (AFP) by a source near Boko Haram and confirmed to be Bakura Modu by another local source, illustrates that terrorist fighting is far from over in Africa’s most populous nation.
Shekau, who became famous after kidnapping nearly 300 schoolgirls in 2014, killed himself last month rather than give up after Daesh-allied rivals attacked his base camp in Nigeria’s northeastern Borno state, security sources say.
Abu Musab al-Barnawi
In an audio recording, ISWAP commander Abu Musab al-Barnawi had already claimed that Shekau killed himself on the run from ISWAP fighters.
The Boko Haram leader had survived several reports of his death over the years, including by the Nigerian army.
The undated Boko Haram video shows Bakura flanked by lots of armed warriors in formation as he turns to the camera, in the way that is traditionally a terrorist group’s way of presenting a new leader.
“Do not let what is happening to you these days weaken your determination in the (war) you are waging, for Allah has not abandoned your efforts.”
He also urges Boko Haram’s commander to reject ISWAP commander Barnawi.
Shortly after the first reports of Shekau’s death last month, fighting intensified between Nigeria’s two rival terrorist factions. ISWAP fighters moved against Boko Haram commanders who refused to give up and join their ranks, intelligence services have said.
The two factions have trimmed in the past since ISWAP split from Boko Haram in 2016 and oppose Shekau’s arbitrary focus on Muslim civilians and the use of women and children as human bombs.
Bomb security guards inspect the wreckage of a car believed to be used in Kano Central Mosque bombing, Kano, Nigeria, November 28, 2014. (Reuters File Photo)
Bakura’s faction is one of the Boko Haram elements operating in the Lake Chad area, where they have access to porous borders with Chad and Niger.
ISWAP fighters have taken over Shekau’s stronghold in the Sambisa forest in their attempt at consolidation, say analysts and security sources.
But they said Barnawi would face potential opposition from hardline pro-Shekau factions along Nigeria’s border regions.
More than 40,000 people have been killed and more than 2 million displaced since the conflict in northeastern Nigeria began in 2009.
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