The Nigerian military says it is investigating claims that the Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau is dead. His death has not been independently confirmed. It is also not the first time a claim like this has been made. The reports have nevertheless raised questions about who has the upper hand in the region – Boko Haram or the breakaway Islamic State West Africa Province. Adejuwon Soyinka, The Conversation’s West Africa regional editor, asked Folahanmi Aina, an expert on Boko Haram and security in the Lake Chad Basin region, to analyse the security situation.
What do you make of recent developments?
Abubakar Shekau took over Boko Haram after the death of its founder Mohammed Yusuf in 2009. In that role he has been responsible for a brutal reign of terror in Nigeria’s north east region as well as states of the Lake Chad region which make up part of the Sahel region.
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Source: Premium Times