Shekau says he leads Boko Haram, not IS-appointed successor

Boko Haram’s former spokesman Abu Musab al-Barnawi has been named as the Nigerian militant organization’s new leader, the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, announced Wednesday. He released an audio message on Thursday insisting he was still in charge. “We will never cause any discord among the people, we will live by the Koran”, he said.

“If ISIS gets to appoint senior leadership for BH, then they are probably running the Nigerian terror group as a local franchise”, he said.

“Strategic decisions such as leadership appointments are made by the spiritual leader of a terrorist group”.

He said: “Nigeria is in a mess”. If it is not Boko Haram that is slaughtering our people it is the Fulani herdsmen.

South African security analyst Ryan Cummings told DW that co-operation between the jihadi groups could be purely nominal.

“As far as we are concerned, what Boko Haram or their cohorts are doing is of no relevance to our operations against them”, he said.

Abubakar Shekau, who has led Boko Haram’s seven-year insurgency in Nigeria and neighbouring countries, had not been heard from for months, fuelling rumours of his death.

Under his reign, Boko Haram carried out attacks in several states in the North East, killing thousands and displacing millions of Nigerians.

Boko Haram last week ambushed a humanitarian convoy, killing three civilians including a United Nations employee and causing the suspension of United Nations aid to newly liberated but still unsafe areas of Nigeria’s northeast.

In an interview published by the ISIL newspaper Al Nabaa on Wednesday, Barnawi, the ISIL appointee, threatened to bomb churches and kill Christians while ending attacks on mosques and markets used by Muslims.

Boko Haram last week ambushed a humanitarian convoy, killing three civilians including a United Nations employee and causing the suspension of United Nations aid to newly liberated but still unsafe areas of Nigeria’s northeast.

“Even if they say they will not be attacking mosques, people are not going to believe it, because they know how risky this group is”, says DW correspondent Al-Amin. As well as the Nigerian Army, which has fought Boko Haram since 2009, the United States has placed a bounty on the heads of Boko Haram leaders.

Military officials say the split is an indication that the group is breathing its last.

Ryan Cummings, director of Signal Risk consultancy, said Shekhau had fallen foul of Isil leaders after attacks on cities like Baga, a north eastern town whose residents were all but wiped out in January 2015.

Boko Haram is fighting to overthrow Nigeria’s government and establish an Islamic State in the north.

Other officials however, have said that this division could make the group more volatile as it spins out of control.