Abubakar Shekau says he is alive and still the leader of Islamist sect Boko Haram, denying reports he has been incapacitated in a new audio message released by the group on Sunday. Jihad monitoring group SITE Intelligence said a new audio message released from Shekau and addressed to the leader of ISIS refuted suggestions that he was unable to serve as Boko Haram’s leader. Reuters could not independently verify the authenticity of the audio message. There have been several claims by Nigeria’s military that Shekau has been killed over the last few years. Last week Chad’s President Idriss Deby said Shekau was wounded and had been replaced as Boko Haram’s leader. Shekau’s last video appearance was in February, when a person claiming to be him — analysts believe he may have been impersonated — threatened to disrupt Nigeria’s presidential elections held the following month. The group has released at least five videos since then but Shekau has not appeared in any of them.
Terrorist groups tend to use the statements and videos that they release as political tools to spread either fear or extremist propaganda and sometimes deliberately misguide the governments that they are battling. The recent revelation of Taliban chief Mullah Omar’s death was surrounded by a similar controversy. In the case of both the Taliban and Boko Haram, the reasons for keeping the demise of the leader secret are similar. The unity of terrorist groups largely depends on a charismatic leader because any movement that is built upon inciting terror by killing and enslaving innocent people requires the constant indoctrination of the foot soldiers so that they keep believing that they are fighting for a larger cause. The death of the leader, who is usually all-powerful, can lead to disillusionment and mass defections. Another reason that the leader’s inner sanctum might attempt to convince the world that their leader is still alive is to show their opponents that they are still powerful. The news of Shekau’s death may have been premature because no evidence, if indeed there is any, to support President Deby’s assertion has been made public. Whether or not Shekau is dead, the belief that Boko Haram will be eradicated by the end of this year is most likely far-fetched. Whatever knowledge that the world and the governments fighting Boko Haram have about the group is eclipsed by what they do not know. Therefore, it would be a mistake to underestimate a group like Boko Haram, which routinely kidnaps girls and children, making them sex slaves, domestic slaves or even reluctant suicide bombers and has killed over 17,000 people since 2009.
pk.shafaqna.com
