The assault of the group on education gained global attention with the kidnap of over 200 students at the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok in the night of 14–15 April 2014. Apart from the outrage it generated globally, the kidnapping also helped focus international attention on the activities of Boko Haram, with the United States, the United Kingdom, France and other nations pledging monetary and military support to help Nigeria combat the insurgents. Nigeria’s neighbours – Chad, Camerooon and Niger – who allegedly provided a safe haven for the insurgents before the kidnapping, were also goaded by the international community to start working with Nigeria to put an end to the activities of the insurgents.

•Stephen Davis: Military killed the real Shekau in June 2013

Shekau later released a video in which he showed some of the kidnapped students, vowing to sell them off or release them only as an exchange for some of his commanders in detention, an action that further provoked outrage even from fellow jihadists associated with al Qaeda. Analysts said the Boko Haram group shared Islamic principles, and possibly enemies, with al-Qaeda. But its brutal and casual style of mass killing of civilians is against al-Qaeda’s strategy of avoiding unleashing such excessive violence on the people who could be its potential allies. According to The New York Times, one user posted on an al-Qaeda-affiliated web forum, “Such news is spread to taint the image of the Mujahedeen.” And when news of the abduction broke, another wrote in shock, “There is news that they attacked a girls’ school!”

Guided by Shekau, Boko Haram has moved on from the abduction to commiting other atrocities which have claimed thousands of lives, including those of traditional rulers and members of the security forces, destruction of whole villages and towns, even as the Nigerian military struggled to contain the group. The peak of the activities of the insurgents was declaration of Gwoza, a vast territory in Borno State, a caliphate after the defeat of Nigerian security forces, sack of an anti-riot police training college in the area and subsequent capture of the town by the insurgents on 24 August. Over 20 policemen caught in the attack on the college are still missing. After its capture, the Boko Haram militants had turned the police college into an academy for training of their militants, took over palaces and exotic cars left behind by fleeing Emir of the town.

The group had from there proceeded to attack others areas it claimed as part of its Caliphate after fierce fighting with Nigerian troops. Areas in North-east Nigeria the group has hoisted its flag and laid claim to after its declaration of Caliphate, include Damboa, Gwoza, Buni Yadi, Gamboru and Madagali, and Dikwa Emirate. The Maiduguri Diocese of Catholic Church said in statement then by Rev. Fr. Gideon Obasogie, its Director of Social Communications, that the churches in different communities across Borno and Adamawa states had been taken over by the insurgents who were also implementing strict Sharia laws in the areas under their occupation. Under him, Boko Haram had also staged audacious attacks, like when the group attempted to take over the Giwa barracks in Maiduguri early this year.

Was Shekau’s Desire For Caliphate His Waterloo?
But it soon emerged that Shekau’s biggest desire, which had also turned out to be the beginning of his end, was to make Maiduguri the headquarters of his Caliphate. In actualisation of this desire, the insurgents opened another plank in the battle for Nigerian territory with a move to take over Bama, a town barely 70 kilometres to Maduguri, about three weeks ago. While some residents of the town who fled to Maiduguri told journalists that the insurgents had taken over the town, the military and the Borno State Government denied the claim. The military claimed that over 100 militants of the deadly sect and scores of soldiers were killed in the battle for control of the town in which it eventually gained the upper hand.

•Marilyn Ogar: The man in video was not the original Shekau

But the confusion on the actual status and who is actually in control of the town persisted as at the time of writing this story last week. Still in their bid to capture Maiduguri, Boko Haram militants had attempted to take over Konduga, a town about 35 kilometres to the Borno State capital. As noted by the Defence Headquarters last Wednesday, the terrorists made not less than four attempts to take over Konduga, which they intended to use as a launch pad for attack on Maiduguri between 12 and 17 September 2014. The military claimed it was able to frustrate attempts by the militants to take over the town with the use of air and land forces.

The military added that it also captured and killed some of the militants, commanders and seized equipment of the group in each of the encounters, which it said lasted an average of about five hours each. “In the course of those encounters, one Mohammed Bashir who has been acting or posing in videos as the deceased Abubakar Shekau, the eccentric character known as leader of the group, died,” General Olukolade, who signed the statement, said while announcing the death of the Boko Haram leader.

To further convince journalists that they had indeed got the much sought-after terrorist chieftain this time around, the military had at the press briefing showed footage of an amateur video recording of the fighting in Konduga, in which bodies littered the streets. “That character tallies with the one that has been showing himself on the video,” Olukolade said as he pointed to a bearded man lying dead on the ground alongside another slain fighter. Also, a close-up still photograph of the dead man’s face was also shown alongside a screengrab from a Boko Haram video of Shekau holding an assault rifle. As at last week, there was no independent verification of the claims, just as the militant group has not made any statement on the military claims that its leader is dead.

Unending Confusion
Comrade Shehu Sanni, a Kaduna-based activist who was involved in one of the earliest initiatives to convince the group to drop its war against the Nigerian state, said with the claims by the military last week, Shekau has been killed the third time. While he agreed that the news of Shekau’s death will give the nation a lot of relief if it’s true, Sanni was quick to note that in a war situation, it’s difficult to extract the truth from what he described as misleading ‘morale, boosting statements’. The activist further said that: “If the report is true, the group will certainly make a statement and announce a new head and if it’s not true, they will also respond. This is what they did when their founder was exterminated in 2009.”