Abubakar Shekau, the notorious commander of Boko Haram in Nigeria, is dead—probably, having detonated a suicide belt to escape capture on May 19. Once described by BBC as a “part-theologian, part-gangster,” Shekau captured the world’s attention exactly six years ago by affiliating himself with the Islamic State (ISIS) and its self-proclaimed caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.[1] Ironically, in the end it was ISIS, from which Shekau had defected—or been expelled—in 2016 that forced his demise, surrounding him and causing him to take his own life rather than being taken alive.
Shekau’s death will undoubtedly please the people of Nigeria, who bore the brunt of his madness for well over a decade, but it won’t end the radical thought that he embodies. Al-Qaeda survived Osama Bin Laden, just like ISIS survived Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Boko Haram will not be an exception.
Mohammad Abubakar al-Sheikawi, was born in Shekau, a town in the Yobe State in northeastern Nigeria, close to the border with Niger. There are conflicting reports about his date of birth, ranging anywhere between 1965 and 1975, although Nigerian officialdom sets the date at 1973. Shekau was a member of the Kanuri ethnic group of Africa, spread across Nigeria, Libya, Sudan, and Cameroon. He grew up on the streets of his native city, where his father doubled as a local mosque imam, working first as a child-beggar then as a perfume seller while studying at the hands of local clerics.[2] He then joined the Borno College of Legal and Islamic Studies, where he met two student friends-turned-jihadis, Mohammad Yusuf and Mamman Nur. Yusuf went on to found Boko Haram in 2002 while Nur was responsible for the bombing of UN headquarters in the Nigerian capital Abuja, back in August 2011.[3]
Inspired by al-Qaeda and Bin Laden, Shekau dropped out of college before finishing his studies, joining the ranks of Boko Haram.[4] Its meaning, explained Mohammad Yusuf, was that Boko (Western education) was Haram (prohibited in Islam). The group’s official name was Jamaat Ahl al-Sunni Lil Da’wa wa al-Jihad (Sunnis for Preaching and Jihad).
Boko Haram had two objectives: purifying Islam and overthrowing the Nigerian government to replace it with an Islamic state. Over the past nineteen years, it has killed 30,000 people across Africa, displaced another 2.3 million, and contributed to the continent’s famine and food shortages.[5]
Madman Jihadist
Shekau was appointed deputy commander of Boko Haram until July 2009, when Mohammad Yusuf was arrested and subsequently executed by Nigerian authorities. He succeeded him both at the helm of the terror organization and in bed—marrying one of Mohammad Yusuf’s four widows.[6] The US State Department designated him as a terrorist in mid-2012, placing a $7 million bounty on his head. Shekau snapped back, describing the Americans as terrorists, while pledging to fight them until the final curtain falls. He promised a global war against Christianity and in April 2014, captured the world’s attention by kidnapping 297 schoolgirls ahead of their exams, threatening to sell them on a slave market.[7] Those who were subsequently released recalled him telling them: “I laugh when people call me insane. I am not a lunatic. I behave strangely just to infuriate Nigerians”.[8]
In the social media age, Shekau was a star, recruiting members and speaking to them through online videos, just like Bin Laden used to do from the caves of Afghanistan. Shekau’s message was simple and clear: “Just pick up your knives, break into their homes, and kill.” Surprisingly, he once mentioned Abraham Lincoln in one of his videos, revealing that beyond layers of projected madness, he was relatively well-read.[9]
Literacy did not prevent him from kidnapping 10,000 and more schoolboys, however, pressed into service as child soldiers, all instructed to kill their Christian schoolmates, slaughter their teachers, and burn down their schools.[10] Government schools were a steady target in his murder spree, since he accused the schools of corrupting the mind of the youth with their “un-Islamic” curriculum. Hundreds of campuses closed down due to his lunacy, resulting in 15 million children being deprived of schooling, according to UNICEF.
Along with destroying the educational opportunities of multitudes, Shekau’s many accomplishments include torching churches during Christmas, attacking crowded bars and overcrowded prisons, and kidnapping a long list of foreigners.
Like all terrorists, Shekau was paranoid to the bone, executing those closest to him—including his own mentors—after developing doubts about their loyalty. He famously promised to kill any visitor carrying a cellphone and has not appeared in public since 2010.
Seven armies had been chasing Shekau for years, including the US, Nigeria, and Chad, but all were unable to penetrate the mines, trenches, and tunnels around his hideout, called Gaba Imam (The House of the Imam), in the Sambisa Forest in northeast Nigeria. The Americans claimed to have spotted him in 2016, but Nigerian strikes missed their target and ended up killing ten of the abducted schoolchildren instead.
The elusiveness fueled conspiracy theories, such as that Abubakar Shekau was an imaginary character, created by the global jihadi network to confuse Nigerian intelligence.
The ISIS Affiliation
The month of March 2015 was Shekau’s moment of history—spelling out both his jihadi glory and future demise. It was at that point in his career that he pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, nine months after the latter had appeared at the pulpit of a mosque in Mosul, proclaiming himself caliph of the Islamic State. Shekau and his men were then given the honorific franchise title of Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
Shekau thought that he would receive money and arms from Baghdadi. The self-proclaimed caliph had no intention of stretching himself thin for the sake of Nigeria, however, and was immersed in his own state-building project in Syria, headquartered on the city of al-Raqqa. Apart from black flags and lip service, Baghdadi sent him nothing, prompting Shekau to become increasingly critical of ISIS. The criticism was mutual, and topped with mistrust, as ISIS criticized Shekau for doing little to advance their cause, despite the franchising that he had been given.
The marriage of convenience ended rather abruptly in August 2016 when Baghdadi “fired” Shekau from his post as emir of ISWAP and had him replaced by Abu Musab al-Barnawi, the son of Boko Haram’s founder, Mohammad Yusuf.[11] Shekau claims that he resigned from ISWAP while ISIS media insisted that he had been discharged, describing him as a religious outcast and Kharijite, a defector from (and rebel against) Islam. Since then, severe fighting has occurred between Shekau and Barnawi, the latest of which occurred earlier this month, when ISWAP fighters cornered him at his base, prompting Shekau to detonate his suicide vest.
Some intelligence agencies have cast doubt about Shekau’s demise, and they are not mistaken in pointing out that this is not the first time that the terror chief has been proclaimed dead. He has been reported dead in 2009, 2013, 2014, and 2016, prompting security analyst Ryan Cummings to comment: “Is this his fourth or fifth death? He dies more often than an iPhone battery”.[12]
Often, after reports of his death, Shekau appeared in online videos refuting the reports and mocking his enemies, such as in mid-August 2015 after the late Chadian president Idriss Deby claimed that Shekau had been toppled and replaced by Mahamat Daoud.[13] Perhaps even now Shekau is working on another such video, though the evidence does seem to be stronger this time that Shekau’s murderous career is over.[14]
Who Will Succeed Him?
Shekau built up many enemies, both within the ranks of his movement and beyond. All of them wanted him dead and all will struggle to take over when he is officially proclaimed dead. His friend-turned-archenemy Abu Musab al-Barnawi stands prime on the list, and he would undoubtedly be backed by Baghdadi’s successor, Abu Ibrahim al-Qurayshi. Other contenders will emerge from a Boko Haram splinter group known as Jamaat Ansar al-Muslimeen fi bilad al-Sudan (Ansaru), or from within Shekau’s own inner circle, notably Abu Saad al-Bambawi and Mohammad Salafi.
European Eye on Radicalization aims to publish a diversity of perspectives and as such does not endorse the opinions expressed by contributors. The views expressed in this article represent the author alone.
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References
[1] “Nigeria’s Boka Haram leader Abubakar Shekau in profile,” BBC (May 9, 2014): https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-18020349
[2] Oduh, Chika. “Mother of Boko Haram leader speaks out,” VOA (June 14, 2018): https://www.voanews.com/africa/voa-interview-mother-boko-haram-leader-speaks-out
[3] “Nigeria’s Boka Haram leader Abubakar Shekau in profile” BBC (May 9, 2014): https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-18020349
[4] “Curbing violence in Nigeria: The Boko Haram Insurgency,” International Crisis Group (April 3, 2014): https://d2071andvip0wj.cloudfront.net/curbing-violence-in-nigeria-II-the-boko-haram-insurgency.pdf
[5] “Nigeria’s Boko Haram kills 49 in suicide bombing,” Associated Press (November 18, 2015): https://web.archive.org/web/20151121020206/http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/11/17/world/africa/ap-af-boko-haram.html
[6] “Nigeria’s Boka Haram leader Abubakar Shekau in profile,” BBC (May 9, 2014): https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-18020349
[7] Strochlic, Nina. “Six years ago, Boko Haram kidnapped 276 schoolgirls: Where are they now?” National Geographic (March 2020): https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/six-years-ago-boko-haram-kidnapped-276-schoolgirls-where-are-they-now
[8] Hinshaw, Drew & Parkinson, Joe. “Boko Haram leader, responsible for Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping, dies,” The Wall Street Journal (May 21, 2021): https://www.wsj.com/articles/boko-haram-leader-responsible-for-chibok-schoolgirl-kidnappings-dies-11621608392
[9] Urquhart, Conal. “Nigerian kidnapped schoolgirls: ‘Kill the unbelievers!’ says Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau,” The Independent (May 13, 2014): https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/boko-haram-leader-abubakar-shekau-kill-the-unbelievers-9359078.html
[10] Hinshaw, Drew & Parkinson, Joe. “Boko Haram leader, responsible for Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping, dies,” The Wall Street Journal (May 21, 2021): https://www.wsj.com/articles/boko-haram-leader-responsible-for-chibok-schoolgirl-kidnappings-dies-11621608392
[11] “Boko Haram in Nigeria: Abu Musab al-Barnawi named as new leader,” BBC (August 3, 2016): https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-36963711
[12] Strange, Hannah. “Boko Haram leader reported killed again, this time by Cameroon’s army,” VICE News (September 22, 2014), https://news.vice.com/article/boko-haram-leader-abubakar-shekau-reported-killed-again-this-time-by-cameroons-army
[13] “Boko Haram has a new leader, states Chadian President,” Africa Times (August 13, 2015): https://africatimes.com/2015/08/13/boko-haram-has-a-new-leader-states-chadian-president/
[14] Hinshaw, Drew & Parkinson, Joe. “Boko Haram leader, responsible for Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping, dies,” The Wall Street Journal (May 21, 2021): https://www.wsj.com/articles/boko-haram-leader-responsible-for-chibok-schoolgirl-kidnappings-dies-11621608392
