The countries surrounding Lake Chad are all contributing to a multinational force to combat Boko Haram, making recent gains against the insurgents who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group a year ago. Shekau was “fatally wounded in the shoulder” during Friday’s raids, said army spokesman Sani Usman in a statement, without giving further details.
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However, the latest statement by the Nigerian Army has quashed claims that Shekau was dead, and at the same time throwing up another argument as to what “fatally wounded” could actually mean.
“It is so important to restoring trust among the people”, Mr. Kerry said before holding talks with Mr. Buhari.
Boko Haram’s six-year insurgency has devastated northeastern Nigeria and has spread to Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
In return, Buhari thanked the U.S. for its assistance in fighting Boko Haram and pledged to continue his anti-graft war “according to the rule of law”.
A video showing dozens of the girls on Sunday said Shekau is willing to negotiate a prisoner swap for detained Boko Haram commanders.
The Nigerian military has long held the official position that “Abubakar Shekau”, the leader of the Boko Haram group is long dead, and military spokespersons have on more than one occasion announced his death.
While the extremist militants were engaging in their Friday prayers in their jihadist main base in Sambisa forest, the Nigerian army struck the area with an air raid killing about 300 militants along with their leader. “But extremism can’t be defeated through repression or fear”, he said.
Responding to its battlefield setbacks, Boko Haram has turned to suicide bombings, many involving children. Dozens escaped but 218 remain missing.
Since 2014 saw #BringBackOurGirls, numerous girls managed to escape, but the whereabouts of approximately 218 girls remain unknown.
Boko Haram has killed more than 20,000 people since 2009, making it the world’s most deadly terrorist group and Nigeria the third-most terrorized country in the world (after Iraq and Afghanistan).
His meetings have focused on defeating the terrorist threats across the continent, from al-Qaida-affiliated Al-Shabab in East Africa to Islamic State-backed Boko Haram in the West.
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Shekau previously pledged allegiance to ISIS in March 2015, and the terrorist organisation appointed the previous spokesperson for Boko Haram Abu Musab Al-Barnawi as the new head of the movement at the beginning of August.
