Boko Haram Leader Abubakar Shekau: Dead, Deposed or Duplicated?

Boko Haram Leader Abubakar Shekau: Dead, Deposed or Duplicated?

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau made international headlines on May 5, when he appeared in a video threatening to “sell as slaves in the market” more than 250 schoolgirls that Boko Haram kidnapped (Vanguard [Lagos], May 6). Although this video gave Shekau notoriety around the world, he was already well-known in Nigeria for leading the Boko Haram insurgency that has been responsible for the deaths of between 8,000 and 10,000 Nigerians since 2010.

What makes Boko Haram a particularly unmanageable insurgency for the Nigerian government is Shekau’s intransigence in negotiating terms for a ceasefire. While other Boko Haram factions, including Ansaru, have broken with Shekau because of his acceptance of Muslim civilian deaths as collateral damage, the most recent difference between Shekau and other factions is Shekau’s belief that negotiations with the government can only take place when Boko Haram has set up an Islamic state or Nigeria has adopted “Boko Haram-approved” Shari’a. [1] Also complicating the government’s ability to combat Boko Haram is the emerging realization that there are multiple factions whose leaders are employing the name “Shekau” in their video statements, including Shekau’s own faction, to claim attacks in Boko Haram videos

This profile reviews Shekau’s background, stance on negotiations and how this led to other factions deposing him, and the possibility that several factions are using imposters of Shekau to claim attacks while the real Shekau continues to issue statements for his faction as well.

Background

Abubakar Shekau is an ethnic Kanuri from a village also named Shekau in northeastern Nigeria’s Yobe State. While not much is known about his childhood, he is believed to have been born around 1970 and received a Western education in his childhood – as evidenced by his proficiency in English language in several of his videos, including the first video Boko Haram released of Shekau in January 2012, as well as Shekau’s fourth video in August 2012 and the May 5 video in which he threatens to sell the girls from Chibok as slaves. [2] In a sermon from 2009 – the year before Shekau declared jihad against Nigeria and the United States – Shekau praised his grandparents, who he claimed “saved” him from Western education, by saying:

Those who were not “saved,” according to Shekau, suffered a fate that Shekau says is exemplified by a children’s song, “Grade One is unintelligent, Grade Two is unintelligent, Grade Three is Unintelligent, Grade Four is average, Grade Five is CCC… Credit, Credit, Credit, Grade Six becomes white man.” [3]

Becoming a “white man,” or having the Western mindset, according to Shekau “usurps our hearts with a philosophy and method of thinking that is contrary to the demands of Allah,” including celebrating Christian holidays, observing the Gregorian calendar and pledging allegiance not to Islam, but to the Nigerian or other national flags. [4]

Shekau’s abhorrence of Western education is likely what led him to “bless” the massacre of 45 university students near Damatru in 2013 and his claim to have ordered another university massacre in Yobe in September 2013 (Vanguard [Lagos], July 13, 2013; September 28, 2013). Similarly, Shekau has justified the massacres of Christian villages in Borno State and the killing of any political or religious leaders who oppose Boko Haram.

Factions

Shekau’s support for indiscriminate killings of students is likely one of the main factors that led factions to break away from him. On the eve of Ramadan in 2011, for example, the Yusufiya Islamic Movement announced in flyers in Boko Haram’s main area of operations in Borno State that it wanted to “distance our group” from “attacks on the civilian population or places of worship” (Nigerian Tribune, July 21, 2011). Later in 2012, a new faction called Ansaru formed in Kano, which also sought to distinguish itself from the killing of innocent Muslims and instead exclusively targeted Nigerian soldiers, foreigners and Christian churches (Desert Herald [Kaduna], June 5, 2012). Nonetheless, Boko Haram killed defectors to these movements and leaked details of their cells to the security forces, which led to the Yusufiya Islamic Movement and Ansaru becoming virtually inactive in 2012 and 2013, respectively (This Day [Lagos], February 3, 2012).

In 2013, however, the main opposition to Shekau’s leadership came from new factions that formed in opposition to his stance on negotiations. In February 2013, for example, Abu Muhammad Abd al-Aziz declared a ceasefire after two meetings with the Borno State Government and the Nigerian government in Saudi Arabia (This Day [Lagos], March 14, 2013). Then, in July 2013, Shekau’s self-appointed spokesman, Abu Zamira, told VOA Hausa that 85 percent of Shekau’s shura were prepared to “move on” without Shekau because of his failure to embrace dialogue (VOA Hausa, July 22, 2013). That same month, “Muhammad Marwan,” possibly a pseudonym for Mamman Nur, the mastermind behind the 2011 UN Headquarters attack in Abuja, also announced that he endorsed a ceasefire, while also denying involvement in the massacre of university students in Yobe that Shekau blessed (VOA Hausa, July 15, 2013).

Finally, in August 2013, both Abu Zamira and Muhammad Marwan announced that Shekau had been deposed in a coup and that he “lost leadership of the sect” (Vanguard [Lagos], August 2, 2013).” The ceasefires and purported coup were evidenced by a lull in Boko Haram attacks, particularly suicide bombings in Nigeria (except for Borno State, where Shekau’s influence was strongest).

Even though the influence of some of these factional leaders appears limited, the existence of several voices speaking out against Shekau suggests that there was a rift within Boko Haram due to Shekau’s unwillingness to negotiate, which led to Shekau being deposed. Zamira’s and Marwan’s claim of a coup was confirmed by the Nigerian government, which in August 2013 said that Shekau had either died or was deposed in a coup in the Cameroonian border town of Amchide (Vanguard [Lagos], August 2, 2013).

Duplicate Shekaus

Since reports started emerging about increasing factionalization within Boko Haram, it also began to appear that imposters were replacing the real Shekau in Boko Haram videos.

The first allegation of an imposter was in March 2013, when Abu Muhammad Abd al-Aziz said that the Shekau that appeared in a video was a fake (This Day [Lagos], March 14, 2013). Abd al-Aziz may have been referring to the February 2013 split-screen video of Shekau with a seven-member French family kidnapped in Cameroon. The kidnapping itself was likely carried out not by Shekau’s faction, but by former Ansaru militants, who now operate in Cameroon with Mamman Nur (Channel 4 News, May 17). In the video, Shekau appears much younger than the real Shekau and it was released when Shekau was still reportedly in northern Mali (Premium Times [Abuja], April 6, 2012). It is therefore possible that Shekau was either not in Nigeria to film this video or that Ansaru militants carried out the operation but claimed it in Boko Haram’s name (Premium Times [Abuja], March 18, 2013). [5]

In April 2013, another video was released with al-Shabaab still images in the introduction before including a face-shot of a Boko Haram leader called “Abu Mansur” (likely in reference to al-Shabaab’s leader of the same name). The video then follows with “Abu Mansur” giving a sermon in the name of “Shekau” in an area resembling the Sambisa Forest of Borno State. “Abu Mansur” appears younger and looks different than the real Shekau. It is possible that Mammur Nur’s faction, which has coordinated attacks in Abuja with al-Shabaab, created this video, in which “Abu Mansur” justifies financing Boko Haram with “spoils of war” – possibly referring to kidnapping – but used Shekau’s name to conceal its identity (Vanguard [Lagos], September 3, 2011). [6]

A May 2013 split-screen video emerged of Shekau with 12 women kidnapped during a raid in Bama, Borno State. Although Shekau looks different than “Abu Mansur,” he is wearing the same hat as “Abu Mansur.” Since Shekau’s faction, unlike Nur’s, was not known to carry out kidnappings, it is possible that Nur again used an imposter Shekau in this video. The motive may have been to disguise the fact that Nur received a ransom for the 12 women in addition to securing the release of Boko Haram members’ wives and children from Nigerian prison (Vanguard [Lagos], May 7, 2013). [7]

In August 2013, another video of a purported Shekau emerged that opened with a nasheed (Islamic vocal music) saying “Nehnu Ansar [We are Ansaru],” possibly a subtle indication from Ansaru that it was producing the video (Ansaru also used a nasheed to coordinate a video statement with the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan in November 2012). Shekau in this August 2013 video appeared younger than previous videos, but is featured with a carpet that appears to be the same as the May 2013 video. [8]

In September 2013, the real Shekau seems to have reemerged in a video. He had an injured left arm and was sitting with ten militants on that same carpet as in the May and August videos. In this video, Shekau also acknowledges reports that he is dead, but says “I withdrew myself from public view and remained silent. You can assume that this is a fake image of mine (laughing)… Can you believe telling the world I was taken to Amchide for treatment and died (laughing).” [9]

The September 2013 video is likely a genuine video of Shekau because he concludes the video with a message in the Kanuri language, like he did before July 2009 and at the 24 minute mark in the video he uses English to say he wants to create a “government of Allah, by Allah, for Allah,” in an apparent mimicry of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address. Mocking U.S. and other Western leaders was also characteristic of some of Shekau’s earliest video statements from January and August 2012. [10] In a subsequent October 2013 video, Shekau also appears to be injured and looks like the actual Shekau. He has the same carpet in the background as the May, August and September 2013 videos. [11]

Until Shekau’s appearance in the May 5 video where he claims the Chibok kidnapping, various look-alikes of Shekau appeared in Boko Haram videos. While the May 5 video resembles Shekau, the next May 12 video showing the kidnapped girls in split-screen while the introduction speech employs a younger, native Arabic-speaking Shekau. [12]

In the absence of any “martyrdom” statements about Shekau or credible claims of his death by informants, Boko Haram detainees, Shekau’s own family members or foreign governments, it is likely that Shekau is still alive. In addition, after alleging four times between 2009 and 2014 that Shekau was dead, on May 14, Nigeria’s Director of Defense Information, Brigadier-General Chris Olukolade, stated that Nigeria now believes that “Shekau is more of a title than a name,” implying that multiple leaders are using the name Shekau to claim attacks (Daily Post [Lagos], May 14; Africa in Transition, August 4, 2013).

It is possible that the factions that were negotiating a ceasefire were at the same time using Shekau’s name and the Boko Haram umbrella to claim attacks and thus avoid responsibility for breaking potential ceasefire terms. Other possibilities, however, include that after the United States designated Shekau a “foreign terrorist” in June 2012, Shekau began using imposters to conceal his real identity, or Shekau was in northern Mali in late 2012 or another country or injured and could therefore not appear in videos.

Conclusion

Abubakar Shekau was raised in an environment where he was taught to despise Western education. When he became Boko Haram’s leader in 2010, he carried out jihad to impose this anti-education, anti-Western and anti-Nigerian government belief system on Nigerians, whether Christian or Muslim. However, Shekau’s ruthlessness in targeting defectors and innocent civilians and his unwillingness to negotiate ceasefire terms has alienated other factions within Boko Haram.

As a result, Boko Haram’s leadership is now divided internally, but still presents a unified veneer to the outside world through the use of Shekau and Boko Haram in their propaganda videos. The fact that Shekau has not spoken out against these imposters nonetheless shows that he likely tacitly accepts the existence of these factions. Moreover, it is likely that the ultimate goal of each faction to impose their version of Shari’a in Nigeria and undermine the Nigerian government may override internal disagreements.

So long as Shekau is leader – or one of Boko Haram’s leaders – the insurgency will continue. If he is killed and Nigeria can conclusively prove that he is dead, it may lead to each Boko Haram faction moving farther apart from one another in both operations and propaganda, which could weaken or at least diffuse the movement. It is therefore a key task of Nigeria and its international partners to locate the real Shekau, eliminate him and show proof to the Nigerian public that Shekau is no longer the leader.

Jacob Zenn is an analyst of African and Eurasian Affairs for The Jamestown Foundation and consultant on countering violent extremism, international law of freedom of association, socio-cultural analysis for geospatial visualization.

Notes

1. Abubakar Shekau, “Tafsir to Boko Haram members” (date unknown, pre-2009), YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePpUvfTXY7w.

2. “Sako Zuwa Ga Jonathan 1, Imam Abubakar Shekau,” January 11, 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtjpzg9n7Vc; The fourth video was released on August 4, 2012, but was immediately taken down by YouTube (the author managed to save a copy while it was still online).

3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxW9Pl1rZs8

4. Abubakar Shekau, “Tafsir to Boko Haram members” (date unknown, pre-2009), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePpUvfTXY7w.

5. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xM1dWpxlNcw.

6. See https://jihadology.net/2013/04/18/three-new-video-message-from-boko-%E1%B8%A5aram-jamaat-ahl-al-sunnah-li-dawah-wa-l-jihad/.

7. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6qZM36oq8E.

8. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfJXOyORHNA&feature=player_embedded.

9. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idKAul9Wj6E.

10. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycUR6T5fCHI.

11. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyarim8E5YI.

12. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9sJnldKRg8.