Boko Haram Leader Killed; Will This Change the Violent Face of Nigeria?

An Italian website said that the news of the killing of the leader of the Nigerian group Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, became certain this time, after it was confirmed by the Nigerian intelligence services to local media.

The “Daily Trust”, the most important Nigerian newspaper, reported details of what happened a few days ago in the Sambisa Forest in the northern state of Borno, there were clashes between Boko Haram and Islamic State fighters in West Africa.

The “Inside Over” website said that Shekau's killing now opens up new scenarios, some of them have never happened in the history of African “jihadist” groups.

 

Would It Fall?

The site mentioned that the last battle in which Abubakar Shekau was killed happened in a symbolic place of the Boko Haram group in Nigeria, it is the Sambisa Forest, which for years formed the stronghold and hideout of the aforementioned group.

A few kilometers away from the place is the city of Maiduguri, which witnessed the establishing of Boko Haram in 2002, it is still witnessing the exercise of a strong influence by the organization, in addition to continuing to recruit fighters even to this day, the Italian website indicates.

The site pointed out that the Nigerian army was forced to do strong campaigns to combat the armed group led by Shekau, which managed to control some neighborhoods in the city of Maiduguri until 2015.

It considered what happened to the city a disaster, which harmed the economy and the population, especially since the attacks terrified the Christian population, and forced a large part of them to flee.

The website noted that despite the recapture of Maiduguri and the main cities in Borno, is a northern Muslim-majority state, it is located on the border with Cameroon, Boko Haram has continued its attacks.

Abubakar Shekau has led the Nigerian organization since 2009, following the arrest of the establisher, Muhammad Yusuf, by the Nigerian security forces in Borno, which caused the first cycle of violence.

Shekau led retaliatory operations by attacking barracks and headquarters as well as Christian churches and schools, in 2014, the leader of Boko Haram pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, and that following its great rise at the international level, says the Italian site.

From that moment, the armed group intensified its operations in northern Nigeria, as well as in Chad, Niger and Cameroon. In recent years, the death of Abubakar Shekau has been announced several times, but in fact he continued to issue the orders from the dense forests near Maiduguri.

The website continued by saying that “A number of loyalists and supporters of Shekau maintained the steadfastness of the organization despite the army's operations, this is evidenced by the intensification of terrorist attacks in northern Nigeria in recent months”.

The site expects that one of them will now replace the killed leader, this will prevent a change in this troubled part of the African country.

As the ghost of 2009 is now beginning to appear, when the arrest of the establisher of Boko Haram led to the outbreak of the first violent attacks by the fighters of the organization.

 

Internal Conflict

The “Inside Over” website confirmed that there are details about the killing of Abubakar Shekau that should not be overlooked. According to intelligence reports, Shekau decided to blow himself up, when he realized that he was surrounded by Islamic State fighters in West Africa.

Islamic State is the fastest growing in Nigeria, as well as in the western region of the entire African continent, it was established in 2016 by defected militants from Boko Haram, and recently they have entered into violent conflicts against the followers of Shekau.

The website considered what happened in the Sambisa Forest as filter accounts between the fighters of these organizations, it is likely that the involvement of the Boko Haram leader in the recent clashes that eventually led to his killing, in fueling disputes and at the beginning of a long period of revenge.

The site sees that the two factions are not only competing for the leadership of the Nigerian armed groups, However, there are interests at stake that go beyond the competition for the representation of African organizations, similar to controlling the strategic northern region of Borno State, in addition to controlling illegal trade corridors which coming from neighboring countries. The site expects that the war between the two groups will lead to falling large numbers of victims, in an unprecedented scenario in Africa, but it is similar to what happened between “jihadist” organizations in Syria.

The Al-Nusra Front (al-Qaeda branch) clashed with the Islamic State in Syria in 2013, as well as in Somalia. Al-Shabab does not welcome the emergence of Islamic State cells in the Horn of Africa.

The site concluded its report by saying: After Shekau's killing, Nigeria may live in fierce confrontations between armed groups, in the midst of a continuous military campaign against the “jihadist strongholds”, which would contribute to the superiority of government forces.