Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau killed himself while fighting members of a rival jihadist group from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) on Sunday. Reports of Shekau’s death emerged two weeks ago. On Sunday, a voice resembling that of ISWAP leader Abu Musab Al-Barnawi in Kanuri language said, “Shekau preferred to be humiliated in the hereafter to getting humiliated on earth. He killed himself instantly by detonating an explosive,” AFP reported.
Boko Haram, the Nigerian militant group hasn’t yet officially commented on the death of their leader. The group has been waging an insurgency in northeast Nigeria for over a decade. The Nigerian army said it is investigating reports of Shekau’s death.
Shekau has been reported dead several times before, only to resurface later. In the audio recording, ISWAP described how it sent out fighters to Boko Haram's enclave in the Sambisa forest and engaged Shekau, who was inside his house, in a firefight.
Shekau escaped and was lying low in a bush. When ISWAP fighters urged him and his followers to repent, he refused, detonated explosives and killed himself.
Shekau was appointed as leader of the movement after its former leader Mohammed Yusuf died in police custody in 2009.
Since Shekau took over, more than 30,000 people have been killed and at least two million forced to flee their homes as the group staged bombings, kidnappings and prison breaks across the region. Analysts say Shekau’s death could help end the rivalry between ISWAP and Boko Haram.