On this day, May 19 in 2021, Abubakar Shekau, the longtime leader of Boko Haram (also known as Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihād or JAS) was killed during a clash with the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
According to a person purporting to be ISWAP leader Abu Musab al-Barnawi, Shekau died after detonating an explosive device when he was pursued by ISWAP fighters following a battle.
“Abubakar Shekau, God has judged him by sending him to heaven,” he can be heard saying.
Two people familiar with al-Barnawi told Reuters the voice on the recording was that of the ISWAP leader.
A Nigerian intelligence report shared by a government official and Boko Haram researchers have also said Shekau is dead.
Islamic State “are consolidating the whole area, the Lake Chad region and (Shekau’s stronghold),” said Bulama Bukarti, an analyst specialising in Boko Haram at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.
“ISWAP had framed Shekau as the problem and he was the only person they wanted to remove,” Bukarti said of Islamic State’s attempt to lure Boko Haram commanders and fighters to their side.
Shekau’s death could lead to the end of a violent rivalry between the two groups, enabling Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) to absorb Boko Haram fighters and consolidate its hold on territory in northeastern Nigeria, political analysts said.
That would allow ISWAP to focus its attention on the government and military, whose war efforts are languishing.
