‘He Inflicted Severe Pain On Me’ -Mother Of Boko Haram Leader, Abubakar Shekau Speaks
Falmata Shekau, mother of former Boko Haram leader, late Abubakar Shekau has said she regretted giving birth to him because he was a tragedy to humanity.
According to reports, Shekau died in May 2021 after waging a deadly war against the Nigerian state that led to the death of over 100,000 thousand people, displacement of over three million people, and destruction of towns, villages, schools, hospitals, and other social amenities valued at over $9bn, according to data released by the state, national and international organizations.
The enraged mother of the terrorist group leader, in an interview with Trust TV, said her son inflicted severe pains on her while he was alive and that they had since parted ways.
According to Falmata, she has no idea if he is dead or alive or whether he ever had children. She then maintained that whether dead or alive, there is nothing between her and her child. She said:
“I don’t know if he (Shekau) had any offspring. I gave birth to him and that is the only and last thing between us. I can’t confirm that he’s death because the last time I saw him was 18 years ago.
Whether he is alive or not; we have parted ways. I never knew whether he had any offspring. He inflicted severe pain on me. God Almighty will judge between us in the hereafter.”
She went further to reveal that Shekau grew up like any other normal child but when he moved to Maiduguri, capital of Borno state, in search of Islamic knowledge, that everything about him changed after meeting with Muhammad Yusuf, the founder of Boko Haram.
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Rival militant group, ISWAP announce Shekau death for audio recording on 5 June, 2021. In the audio obtained by news agencies, the Islamic State West Africa Province (Iswap) said Shekau died detonating explosives on himself after a battle between the two groups.
In the undated audio recording, a voice thought to be that of Iswap leader Abu Musab al-Barnawi said Shekau “killed himself instantly by detonating an explosive”.
Iswap fighters hunted down the warlord and offered him the chance to repent and join them, al-Barnawi said.
“Shekau preferred to be humiliated in the afterlife than getting humiliated on earth,” he said.
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Who is Abubakar Shekau?
After taking the reins of Boko Haram after its founder died in police custody in 2009, Shekau led its transformation from an underground sect to a deadly insurgency that has swept north-east Nigeria.
Under Shekau, Boko Haram staged bombings, kidnappings and prison breaks across the region. And from 2014, it began overrunning towns in a bid to create an Islamic State under Sharia law.
Believed to be in his early- to mid-40s, Shekau backed a bloody jihadist campaign in propaganda videos that drew comparisons to Osama Bin Laden.
“I enjoy killing… the way I enjoy slaughtering chickens and rams,” he said in one 2012 video.
Since he took charge, more than 30,000 people have been killed and over two million displaced from their homes.
The group gained global attention after its 2014 kidnapping of hundreds of girls from a school in Chibok, in Borno state, sparking the #BringBackOurGirls movement. Many of them are still missing.