Abubakar Shekau, the leader of the terror group Boko Haram, is said to be weakened by ill health, prompting questions about his ability to lead the militants, the AFP reported on Friday.

The sources said Shekau has a range of conditions that have left him “too weak to be in charge” of the jihadists, whose insurgency has killed at least 20,000 in Nigeria since 2009.
“He has high blood pressure and failing sight from diabetes-related complications,” said one source with close knowledge of the group’s activities.

A senior security source tracking the conflict, who also asked not to be identified because he was not authorised to speak to the media, described Shekau’s diabetes as “debilitating”.

“He suffers from diminished eyesight from cataracts or glaucoma as a result of diabetes,” he added.

The source with knowledge of Boko Haram’s activities said Shekau and his lieutenants have been in talks this week about his “failing health” and whether he was well enough to lead.

Boko Haram split in mid-2016 over ideological differences.

One faction, headed by Abu-Mus’ab Al-Barnawi, whose father Mohammed Yusuf founded Boko Haram, won the support of the Islamic State group.

Some experts suggested that with Shekau off the scene, the different groups could be reconciled.

Shekau used to appear frequently on video messages from the group, particularly at the height of the conflict, when Boko Haram ran riot across northeast Nigeria, seizing territory.

The Nigerian authorities have claimed Shekau has died or been killed on at least three occasions, and that he has been replaced by a series of lookalikes.

Shekau’s last appearance on camera was in a 14-minute video released on February 6 in which he claimed responsibility for attacks in Borno state capital, Maiduguri, and other towns.

He was previously seen on January 15 in an 11-minute video in which some of the remaining Chibok schoolgirls who were abducted in 2014 vowed never to return to their parents.

Both sources said between February and April last year, Shekau was bed-ridden in Bulayaga, a village in the Konduga area of Borno, near his group’s Sambisa Forest stronghold.

Bulayaga is some 35 kilometres (22 miles) from Maiduguri.

“No-one thought he would survive because he was terribly sick from diabetes and malaria,” said the security source.

Shekau resurfaced in a video published on May 4, 2017, rejecting claims he had been injured in a Nigerian air strike the previous day at the nearby village of Balla.

“I’m alive, I’m alive, I’m alive,” he said.

But in it, he looked frail and appeared to have difficulty reading from a prepared speech, which he held close to his face in an apparent indication of vision problems.

The August 2016 split caused bitter in-fighting and saw Shekau lose men, territory and weapons.

Barnawi, whose group operates in northern Borno around the shores of Lake Chad, is now seen as “more in charge”, said the source.

Yan St-Pierre, counter-terrorism advisor and head of the Modern Security Consulting Group, said Shekau’s removal would only have a “limited” effect internally and on operations.

“Most terrorist organisations always have a ‘next man up’ planned because leadership could be lost at any time,” he said in emailed comments.

“The myth of Shekau” could also remain as a “galvanising factor” for Boko Haram fighters, he added.

The security source suggested the removal of Shekau “could signal the mending of fences between the two factions”.

“Shekau has been the major wedge to reconciliation between the factions and if he resigns, the prospect of a truce and merger between the factions is high,” he added.

Ryan Cummings, Africa security analyst at the Signal Risk group, agreed the two sides could move closer but also suggested it could trigger a power struggle in the high command.

That “could trigger further violent factionalism”, he added

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/06/boko-harams-shekau-critically-ill/

idiots.

All of you northern muslims and your southern serfs especially the afonjastic bastards like Ishaq akintonla will die of gonorrhea

He has killed enough let him join the dead...
No much talk

Story storyyyyy.....d man dey plan suicide as usual.

Shekau,the man with9 lives

So what

Ogbasalam? Mbanu. Ogbasala ndi oso na gworo. A mara m na i hotara ife m meanulu na.

Someone who death cant kill


How can ordinary illness kill him?


Those who created this monster... Must suffer the consequences

they are about to end the movie

Believe them at your own peril

Shekau's death means nothing, they have already installed the ideology in the north

CriticMaestro:
Shekau's death means nothing, they have already installed the ideology in the north

The truest comment here.

I don't believe this story. Let's wait and see.

Who cares about his health condition, just kill the man.

Make una no go annoy Shekau again o!

CriticMaestro:
Shekau's death means nothing, they have already installed the ideology in the north

Na your papa born you

CriticMaestro:
Shekau's death means nothing, they have already installed the ideology in the north

You are right the North has already spiraled to an irrecoverable dead man’s graveyard
For the Night is dark and full of terrors