Boko Haram had recently sworn allegiance with ISIS.
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The disputed leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, released a 10-minute audio-message in Arabic and Hausa in which he said he was “deceived”, alleging Abu Musab al-Barnawi of attempting a coup against him.
Abubakar Shekau, the Nigerian terrorist responsible for the 2014 kidnapping of almost 300 schoolgirls, has resurfaced a day after a rival figure was named as Boko Haram leader by Islamic State.
He also highlighted ideological differences with al-Barnawi, who promised in an interview published Wednesday in Islamic State newspaper al-Nabaa to end attacks on mosques and markets frequented by Muslims.
Al-Barnawi used to be the spokesperson of the group under Shekau.
“Boko Haram”, literally translated means “western education is sin”.
He said, “They (West) strongly seek to Christianise the society…They exploit the condition of those who are displaced under the raging war, providing them with food and shelter and then Christianising their children”.
The shadowy leader’s absence in recent months has sparked speculation about his fate and whether or not he had been deposed as leader.
Ansaru broke away from Boko Haram because it disagrees with the indiscriminate killing of civilians, especially Muslims. It has so far taken the lives of at least 20,000 people and forced over 2.5 million others from their homes.
Like ISIL, Boko Haram has in the past year lost territory in the face of a pan-African force including Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Benin.
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Since previous year, Nigeria has a new leader, President Muhammadu Buhari, a former military dictator who has better armed and motivated security forces. But an audio speech purporting to be from Shekau criticized al-Barnawi and said IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi did not respond to several letters from Shekau explaining that al-Barnawi is “an infidel” preaching “false creeds”. He said that increasing numbers of youth are joining the cause, though Nigeria’s military reports that hundreds of its fighters have surrendered as aerial bombardments and ground assaults cut supply routes.
