Mamman Nur, factional Boko Haram
leader loyal to Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA), has been reportedly
killed.
Daily Trust reports that Nur was
killed by his fighters who rebelled against him on August 21.
In 2014, he had rebelled against
Abubakar Shekau, Boko Haram leader, leading a breakaway faction that was later
known as Al-Baghdadi.
“Mamman Nur, who was killed on
August 21, is the actual leader of the Boko Haram faction after they parted
ways with Shekau,” a source was quoted as saying.
“He was meant to lead so that
followers would remain committed to the cause championed by his late father but
he (Nur) is the major link of the faction with the Islamic State; the chief
strategist around Lake Chad, including their cells in Nigeria, Niger and Chad.”
The newspaper said Nur was killed
by his close lieutenants following a prolonged disagreement with them.
He was said to be “not as rough
as Shekau”.
“The commanders became
disenchanted with Nur’s style of leadership; they saw him not as rough as
Shekau,” another source reportedly said.
“They followed him in staging the
revolt because the argument back in 2014 was that Shekau was a hardliner who
killed almost everyone, both Muslims and Christians who disagreed with his
brand of Islam.
“But according to some of the
fighters, after establishing his base in Lake Chad, Mamman Nur too ‘deviated
from the real course’ and compromised on so many occasions.”
‘THE DAPCHI INCIDENT AS FINAL
STRAW’
The last straw in the strained
relationship was said to be the release of the Dapchi schoolgirls.
The faction had kidnapped over
100 students from Government Girls Secondary School, Dapchi, and released all
but one of them about a month later.
“The negotiation of the release
of the girls did not go down well with some close associates of Mamman Nur who
released the girls unconditionally, following a directive by Al-Baghdadi,” the
paper quoted the source as saying.
“Nothing was paid before the
girls were released and besides, Mamman Nur’s soft approach and close contact
to governments and different levels angered his foot soldiers who rebelled
against him and thereafter executed him.”
The group is now said to be under
the leadership of a “former commander of the fighters who was directly under
the control of Nur”.
The Department of State Service
(DSS) in 2011 placed a N25 million bounty on Nur who was accused of
masterminding the bombing of the UN building in Abuja.
In 2017, it was reported that his
faction was among those willing to hold talks with the military to help
facilitate the arrest of Shekau.
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com