Welcome, Guest: Register On Nairaland / LOGIN! / Trending / Recent / New
Stats: 3,154,639 members, 7,823,812 topics. Date: Friday, 10 May 2024 at 03:52 PM

How Did Abubakar Shekau Die? Here’s What We Know So Far - Politics - Nairaland

Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Politics / How Did Abubakar Shekau Die? Here’s What We Know So Far (886 Views)

Abubakar Shekau Dead; Commits Suicide During ISWAP Attack - Eons Intelligence / Abubakar Shekau Condemns Kano Death Sentence Of Yahaya Sherif Aminu / Abubakar Shekau Reaching Out To Mediators For Ceasefire (2) (3) (4)

(1) (Reply) (Go Down)

How Did Abubakar Shekau Die? Here’s What We Know So Far by omoalaro: 7:05pm On May 21, 2021
By detonating his explosive vest, Shekau killed at least one other person: Bako Gorgore, former wali (leader) of ISWAP’s Timbuktu governorate who led the assault on Boko Haram’s stronghold.

The circumstances leading to the death of notorious terror group leader, Abubakar Shekau, have been disputed by various reports, with many insisting that he may in fact still be alive. Information reaching HumAngle from informed sources within the insurgency has, however, thrown more light on the developments.

Shekau had since 2009, and until his death, led a faction of Boko Haram known as the Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihād (JAS). HumAngle learnt that the invasion of his group’s camp in the Sambisa forest area on Wednesday by the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), which broke away from JAS in 2016, was the culmination of years of preparation.

For over a year, ISWAP had adopted a pacifist approach that enabled it to gain the trust of many of Shekau’s fighters and commanders.

Whenever Shekau’s fighters overpowered ISWAP members, they would disarm and kill them, considering them to be traitors (khawarij). But if ISWAP fighters overpowered Shekau’s men, what they mostly did and have done consistently was to disarm, preach to them, and allow them to go.

ISWAP, which is known to lay claim to four governorates in the region, instructed the wali (governor) and ameeru-l-fiha (military commander) of the Timbuktu axis, Bako Gorgore, to lead the operation against Shekau’s camp. The governorate is considered one of the most important ISWAP positions after the Lake Chad islands. ISWAP fighters in the area are closer to Shekau’s area of influence and so often have more information about his movements. They also depended on insider sources to be able to monitor and track him.

During the assault on Wednesday, many of Shekau’s top fighters were either neutralised or already working with ISWAP. This made it easy to trap Shekau.

Several sources informed HumAngle that Shekau, who was in the company of a top lieutenant, was cornered after attempting to escape around the maghrib period (early evening).

Bako Gorgore then approached him alongside a top ISWAP fighter and engaged in a discussion with Shekau after disarming him and his fighter. They tried to persuade Shekau and his follower to remove their suicide vests and surrender themselves. They had also told Shekau they would be fair to him if he gave himself up, in line with plans to simply restrict him in one of ISWAP’s camps.

However, in the course of their discussion, Shekau ordered the top fighter that was with him to detonate his improvised explosive device by calling out in Hausa “ka bude tamin,” but Gorgore’s aide shot him before he could execute the instruction.

Shekau then proceeded to detonate his own suicide vest, killing both himself and Gorgore. Those with Gorgore were at a reasonable distance at the time, HumAngle learnt, and so survived the explosion, which happened outdoors.

Information from the frontlines of the insurgency contradict reports in other media that Shekau shot himself using a gun and may have survived the attempt to take his own life.

The former extremist leader was known by associates to have always worn explosive belts because of his determination not to be captured alive by the Nigerian military.

While suicide is “strictly” prohibited by Islamic law even during warfare, extremist groups such as al-Qaeda and Boko Haram have permitted self-sacrifice as a way of inflicting harm on those they consider their enemies.



With the latest development, ISWAP has completely taken over Boko Haram’s Sambisa camp, but it is not clear if it will be collapsed under the Timbuktu governorate, declared as a new state under the terror group’s control, or even made the new ISWAP operational headquarters.

Shekau left behind an enormous cache of arms. He was obsessed with hoarding weapons because, having survived a number of coup attempts, he did not trust anyone with too much access, believing it would increase the chances of him getting overthrown.

As a result, the success of ISWAP’s onslaught gives the terror group access to an overwhelming amount of arms and ammunition. Likewise, many of Shekau’s fighters have jumped the fence to ISWAP’s faction and the group expects Shekau’s former top commanders, who interfaced directly with members of various cells and sub-factions, to persuade even more men to give in. Majority of JAS’ top lieutenants have already pledged allegiance to ISWAP or are in the process of doing so.

Sources expect ISWAP to release an official announcement soon. They say the silence so far may be because the group is trying to get full control of the situation before making definite statements.

Backed by international jihadi forces, ISWAP has grown in strength and numbers since its formation in 2016. Experts believe that Shekau’s death and a merger between the two rival forces, JAS and ISWAP, will likely worsen the insurgency in Northeast Nigeria and the Lake Chad region.

“It will be a negative development for Boko Haram – and positive for the Lake Chad region – if the death of Shekau worsens the [Boko Haram’s] factional dispute. It will however be a positive development for the group if this leads to a reunification of the group.”

SOURCE.
https://humangle.ng/
Re: How Did Abubakar Shekau Die? Here’s What We Know So Far by Kandeed: 7:11pm On May 21, 2021
The way this nigga go so burn in Hell ehn.....oh my God

2 Likes

Re: How Did Abubakar Shekau Die? Here’s What We Know So Far by emmykingzy: 7:44pm On May 21, 2021
Why do people buy all this tales by moonlight stories. This one reach to act better action movie.
What is the source of this information? From a terrorist!!! angry
Why so many sides to the story?
where is the proof of his death? undecided
And you believe them. shocked
Re: How Did Abubakar Shekau Die? Here’s What We Know So Far by omoalaro: 7:49pm On May 21, 2021
emmykingzy:
Why do people buy all this tales by moonlight stories. This one reach to act better action movie.
What is the source of this information? From a terrorist!!! angry
Why so many sides to the story?
where is the proof of his death? undecided
And you believe them. shocked

The source is HumAngle. HumAngle is generally regarded as an authoritative source of information on Boko Haram activities.

4 Likes

Re: How Did Abubakar Shekau Die? Here’s What We Know So Far by illicit(m): 7:55pm On May 21, 2021
Na wa o
Re: How Did Abubakar Shekau Die? Here’s What We Know So Far by harmargedon: 7:58pm On May 21, 2021
Lie lie
Re: How Did Abubakar Shekau Die? Here’s What We Know So Far by Jesuschristus: 8:34pm On May 21, 2021
Shekau didnt die
Re: How Did Abubakar Shekau Die? Here’s What We Know So Far by MiztaPepperoni(m): 9:17pm On May 21, 2021
This na the fourth time this man dey die

Very soon him go do announcement again as usual

Re: How Did Abubakar Shekau Die? Here’s What We Know So Far by omoalaro: 10:22pm On May 21, 2021
MiztaPepperoni:
This na the fourth time this man dey die

Very soon him go do announcement again as usual

Somehow, this is a good news for Nigeria.
Our military will now only have to face one terror group ISWAP instead of ISWAP and BOKO HARAM.

(1) (Reply)

I Can't Access Or Post On My Twitter Account Again / Will Tinubu Reply Buhari In The Language He Understands? / Nigerians Are Starving, Kano Emir Tells Buhari

(Go Up)

Sections: politics (1) business autos (1) jobs (1) career education (1) romance computers phones travel sports fashion health
religion celebs tv-movies music-radio literature webmasters programming techmarket

Links: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)

Nairaland - Copyright © 2005 - 2024 Oluwaseun Osewa. All rights reserved. See How To Advertise. 20
Disclaimer: Every Nairaland member is solely responsible for anything that he/she posts or uploads on Nairaland.