Maiduguri: The Military officials of Nigeria on Wednesday said that more than 130 Boko Haram Islamist fighters have surrendered to Nigerian forces. They also said that a man posing as the group’s leader in numerous videos had been killed in clashes.
The army has stepped up military operations against Boko Haram in the remote northeast since the rebels seized several small towns and declared the area they control a “Muslim territory”.
The army said 135 Boko Haram fighters had handed their weapons to troops on Tuesday in the northeast town of Biu, near the epicentre of Boko Haram’s campaign to carve out an Islamist state.
They also said that Boko haram had also been trying to take over the town of Konduga, near the Cameroon border, from September 12-17 but had been repelled by air and land forces.
Defence spokesperson Major-General Chris Olukolade said, “In the course of those encounters, one Mohammed Bashir, who has been acting or posing on videos as the deceased Abukarr Shekau… known as leader of the group, died.”
Bureau Report
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