Col. Sani Kukasheka Usman, a spokesman for the Nigerian Army, said that among the dead were multiple Boko Haram commanders, including Abubakar Mubi, Malam Nuhu and Malam Hamman.
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“Their leader, so-called “Abubakar Shekau”, is believed to be fatally wounded on his shoulders”, Usman said in a statement, according to Reuters.
Kerry noted that on Saturday Boko Haram fighters attacked a village near Chibok, killing 10 people and taking 13 girls and women hostage.
Kerry said people join Boko Haram for a “sense of objective, of power”, especially young people with “no hope for the future”, and warned that military operations alone will not end the crisis that has festered for about a decade.
Shekau was believed to be praying on Friday at Taye village in the extremists’ Sambisa Forest holdout in northeast Nigeria.
Kerry took the opportunity to speak out against the ill-treatment of escaped Boko Haram captives, stating: “breaking the cycle of violence requires treating those who escape or defect from Boko Haram, and particularly those who were abducted against their will, with sensitivity as they return to their old communities”.
Buhari said as the head of Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) and President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Sultan Abubakar III had demonstrated uncommon leadership style, patriotism and wisdom in his consistent advocacy for security, peace and unity of Nigeria.
This is not the first time the army is claiming to have killed Abubakar Shekau, as the Army first said in 2013 it had killed the leader of the sect.
President Buhari said though Militancy in the Niger Delta has impacted negatively on the economy and affected the positive intentions of global and local investors, government was showing restraint not to use real force, “except when constrained to do so”.
Boko Haram would later pledge allegiance to the Islamic State – becoming the self-proclaimed caliphate’s West Africa province. Under Nigeria’s last president, Goodluck Jonathan, the United States had blocked arms sales and ended training of Nigerian troops partly over human rights concerns such as treatment of captured insurgents.
President Muhammadu Buhari has pledged that the anti-corruption crusade in the country will be deepened and institutionalized to last beyond the life of the current administration.
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He pledged his government’s determination to assist Nigeria in tackling the humanitarian challenges in the North-East, adding that US would get Britain, France, and others “to augment the support”. The US Congress has yet to approve the sale, however. The military has reported the death of Boko Haram’s Shekau in the past, only to have a man purporting to be him appear later, apparently unharmed, making video statements.
