Abubakar Shekau, has reportedly been shot and deposed by aggrieved members of the sect who are close to him. “The be-headings, the killings, the recent death of students…this is not the way of the Holy Qu’ran. We could tolerate it no longer." Consequently, a new leader has been appointed for the sect: The new leader, Abu Zamira Mohammed, who is the sect’s leader negotiating with the federal government was unanimously chosen by the group’s Shura Council. The group also said that its ceasefire declaration is working, pointing outthat there has not been any suicide bombing since the declaration. It condemned the Yobe massacre where 40 students were killed. According to report, they said some politicians now commit murder and ascribe it to Boko Haram. On the Kano blasts last Monday, which led to the death of about 45 people, the group blamed it on federal government’s tardiness in responding to the ceasefire agreement. A joint report published on Thursday by Dr. Stephen Davis, a conflict resolution expert and an adviser to the last three Nigerian Presidents and Phillip van Niekerk, President of Calabar Africa, a strategic advisory company focusing on Africa, quoted one Imam Liman Ibrahim, spiritual leader of Boko Haram, as saying that the change in leadership was prelude to peace negotiations with federal government. Recall that a faction ofBoko Haram entered into a back-channel dialogue with the government in the search for peace to a conflict that has seen multiple suicide bombings, attacks on public buildings and churches, and has claimed thousands of lives since 2011. On why they decidedto go against Shekau: Imam Liman Ibrahim, spiritual leader of Boko Haram, explained that the teaching of Shekau was becoming increasingly harsh and began to depart from the Holy Qu’ran. “It was harsh, harsh, harsh,” Imam Liman said when explaining the reasons for the change of leadership. “Imam Liman explained that Shekauwas given a choice of joining the peace dialogue with the government, forming his own sect or be killed.Several senior Boko Haram commanders including Shekau’s Chief of Security and personal bodyguard, Abdullahi Hassan, have claimed that Shekau has since beenshot in the lower leg, thigh and shoulder,” a report said. The report further added that, "Shekau’s exact fate is not known. [But] a video clip recovered from a Boko Haram camp in the Sambisa Forest Reserve in the northeast Nigeria, raided by the military on May 16,shows Shekau limping, providing confirmation of reports he had been shot. “However, Shekau hasbeen noticeably absent from recent public statements... It had been presumed that Shekau chose to voluntarily leave peace discussions in the hands of Boko Haram’s leadership group.” The JAS leadership were quoted as citingthe Qu’ran as their inspiration for seeking peace. “In the Holy Qu’ran, Sura At Tauba: Wa-injanahuu-LisalmiFaji Nahlahaa,we are encouraged to seek peace. The Holy Qu’ran also tells us it is good to negotiate. Sura At Nisa Ayih: Wa-sulhu Haira.” The report said “Boko Haram leadership has appointed Abubakar Babasani Ibn Yusuf as spokesman to replace Zamirah. Babasani says the leadership has been consulting all senior commanders to assure compliance with the ceasefire. He said commanders as far afield as Niger, Chad, Sudan and Cameroon have agreed to the ceasefire and discussions with the Nigerian government on the subject of a peace deal.” It would be recalled that Shekau launched a series of well-planned assassinations and suicide bombings thattargeted Police Force headquarters, UN building and several churches in the Northern part of Nigeria.
Posted on: Fri, 02 Aug 2013 20:19:32 +0000
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