By Elohor Igbru, Abuja
Abubakar Shekau, the leader of the Islamist Terrorists Group, Boko Haram has been reported dead after a fierce gunfight between his sect and that of the splinter group, Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP).
Unconfirmed sources say the terrorists committed suicide as the ISWAP fighters gained on him in Sambisa forest with the intention of capturing him alive.
Differences in ideology and operation caused a group to break-off from Boko Haram pledging allegiance to the Islamic State In Syria ( ISIS) terror group.
Sources said ISWAP fighters rampaged Sambisa forest with heavy gun trucks, killing hundreds of Boko Haram fighters and crippling the groups activities. ISWAP is now said to have taken over the whole of Sambisa.
Shekau has been described as a man with nine lives as he had been reported to have been killed by the Nigerian Army more than five times only to ‘resurrect’ in a video , threatening and causing severe casualties on communities.
Many commentators on social media are receiving the news with caution.
While some expressed the hope that the story is true, others demanded for a body to believe it.
Twitter influencer, Dipo Awojide, known as @ogbenidipo said: “Abubakar Shekau has reportedly been killed like 4 times before. We want to see his dead body, before he wakes up and makes a crazy video taunting the country and our Army again in two weeks. If indeed he is dead, may his soul rot in hell.”
However, the implications of this development if true is that, ISWAP, a more brutal terror group would have acquired the capacity to unleash mayhem across the northeast region of the country.
