Abubakar Shekau: Dead or in 'protective custody'?

Abubakar Shekau: Dead or in 'protective custody'?

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has once again fail to appear in a new video released by the insurgency group, fuelling speculation about his fate.

Shekau may be dead, deep in hiding, seriously wounded or may be being protected by powerful sponsors of the terrorist group.

He was last heard from in March, when he released an audio message pledging allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group.

Soon thereafter, Nigeria’s military said it had recaptured all towns and cities from Boko Haram , also killed militants and captured a commander following airstrikes on the group’s bases, it added.

In the eight-minute video, an unidentified young man speaks in the name of the Islamic State in West Africa calling on people to be patient: “We are still present everywhere we had been before.”

The young militant spoke in the regional Hausa language, with an accent from the Kanuri ethnic group, to which Shekau belongs

The video is gruesome, but its production sleek and this suggests that it was produced with the help of IS-allied propaganda units.

Boko Haram released a video last month where they beheaded a captured Nigerian soldier

The video shows the militants attacking a security checkpoint, seizing weapons, and slitting the throat of a man dressed in a police uniform.

Shekau also failed to appear in a Boko Haram video released in June.

Shekau became Boko Haram leader following the killing of the group’s founder, Muhammad Yusuf, in police custody in 2009.

Previous reports about his death proved to be untrue.