Rumour of Shekau’s Death Spreads In Borno As Fears Grips Residents

Rumour of the death of the sect’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, and some of his commanders in the battle with troops in Konduga was spreading across Borno State, as of the time of filing this report.

Shekau’s reported death is contained in the account of some of the survivours of an attack of the sect on Mainok on Friday, as they said they were afraid of returning to the town “because we are told the insurgents are mad as a result of the killing of their leader, Abubakar Shekau, in Konduga.”


Reports reaching Sunday Tribune in Maiduguri, the state capital, indicated that over 300 people were killed when the insurgents attacked Mainok market on that Friday in what was believed to be a retaliation of the leader’s death as villagers were in the peak of trading on the market day. 

A local, Modu Jakana, who narrowly escaped that attack, told Sunday Tribune that the insurgents came in from all angles, “shooting the people as if they were exchanging fire with the military. We don’t know how we escaped, but we were so lucky. They were so determined to kill everybody. I saw so many corpses while we were running for dear lives. At the main road, vehicles that were on top speed also killed so many people as there was confusion everywhere.

“This morning, some of our people told us that over 300 people, including some of the insurgents, were killed because we learnt that the military came and engaged them in a fierce fight.

‘There is calm, but we won’t return to Mainok’
“For now, they said calm has returned, but we cannot go back because these people may strike again. They said the people (insurgents) are mad, following the killing of their leader, Abubakar Shekau, during the attack in Konduga.”

When asked how sure he was that Shekau, the leader of the sect, was killed, he said, “look, this picture is being circulated after the attack in Konduga. If you know Shekau very well, you will know he is the one in this picture. We all know him very well. Many of his commanders were also killed during the attack. We learnt that some of them that were caught alive are held in the barracks.

“The remaining ones are those attacking people now. They have gone wild, but we were also told that the soldiers are in pursuit of them. Our prayer is that they would all fall and our state can experience peace again.”

Also, a military source claimed the insurgents were looking for food to sustain their terror acts, a development which made them to invade Mainok market, about 56 kilometres from Maiduguri, on Friday afternoon. He said they carted away foodstuffs and money belonging to the traders after killing many people.

A Maiduguri resident, Alloy Ikechukwu, who travelled along the Maiduguri – Damaturu road on Friday, also told journalists that the attackers stormed the market at about 1.30 p.m.