The Boko Haram terrorist group has confirmed the death of their former leader, Abubakar Shekau.
A Boko Haram commander, Bakura Modu, issued the confirmation via a short video in Arabic, according to the AFP.
Media reports had it weeks ago that Shekau died during infighting with a rival Islamic State-allied faction.
In the video, Modu, who is also known as Sahaba and is the presumed new commander of Boko Haram, urged his faction’s commanders to remain loyal despite the loss of their historic commander.
Shekau’s death was seen as a major shift in Nigeria’s conflict, though Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) has recently emerged as the dominant force in the more than decade-long Islamist insurgency in the country’s northeast.
The video, provided to AFP by a source close to Boko Haram and confirmed to be Bakura Modu by another local source, illustrates that terrorists’ infighting is far from over in Nigeria.
Shekau, who gained notoriety after kidnapping nearly 300 schoolgirls in 2014, killed himself last month rather than surrender after IS-allied rivals attacked his base camp in Nigeria’s northeast Borno state, security sources said.
In an audio, ISWAP commander Abu Musab Al-Barnawi had already claimed Shekau killed himself while on the run from ISWAP fighters.
The undated Boko Haram video shows Bakura flanked by scores of armed fighters in formation as he addresses the camera, in what is traditionally a terrorist group’s way of presenting a new leader.
“Commanders of Jama’atu Ahlu Sunna Lidda’awati Wal Jihad. Be steadfast and draw your swords, spreading your jihad, decapitating the enemy,” he said, using the official name of Shekau’s Boko Haram faction also known as JAS.
“Don’t allow what befalls you these days to weaken your resolve on the jihad you are waging, because Allah has not forsaken your efforts.”
He also urges Boko Haram commanders to reject ISWAP commander Barnawi.
Soon after the initial reports of Shekau’s death last month, infighting between Nigeria’s two rival terrorist factions intensified.
ISWAP fighters moved against Boko Haram commanders who refused to surrender and join their ranks, intelligence sources have said.
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