By Saheed Ahmed<\/p>\n
He is the face of terror. A ruthless leader with a twisted ideology. And
\nthe sadistic architect of a campaign of mayhem and misery.
\nAnd yet, very little is known about Abubakar Shekau, the leader of Boko
\nHaram.
\nHe operates in the shadows, leaving his underlings to orchestrate his
\nrepulsive mandates. He resurfaces every once in a while in videotaped
\nmessages to mock the impotence of the Nigerian military. And he uses his
\nfaith to recruit the impressionable and the disenfranchised to his cause.
\nHe is a religious scholar\u2028Shekau was born in Shekau village that
\nborders Niger. He studied under a cleric and then attended Borno State
\nCollege of Legal and Islamic Studies for higher studies on
\nIslam.\u2028That\u2019s why he\u2019s also known as \u2018Darul Tawheed,\u2019 which
\ntranslates to an expert in monotheism, or the oneness of Allah.<\/p>\n
Place of birth: Yobe State<\/p>\n
He\u2019s a polyglot<\/p>\n
He speaks several languages fluently: Hausa, Fulani, Kanuri and Arabic.
\nBut English isn\u2019t one of them. After all, he heads a group that rejects
\nall things Western.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s elusive\u2028Even his age is unknown \u2014 estimates range between 38
\nand 49.\u2028The U.S. State Department has Shekau\u2019s year of birth listed
\nas 1965, 1969 and 1975.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s a loner\u2028Analysts describe Shekau as a loner and a master of
\ndisguise. He does not speak directly with members, opting to communicate
\nthrough a few select confidants.<\/p>\n
He uses many aliases: Abu Bakr Skikwa, Imam Abu Bakr Shiku and Abu
\nMuhammad Abu Bakr Bin Muhammad Al Shakwi Al Muslimi Bishku among them.<\/p>\n
He was an unruly No. 2<\/p>\n
Boko Haram was founded by Mohammed Yusuf, a charismatic, well-educated
\ncleric who drove a Mercedes as part of his push for a pure Islamic state
\nin Nigeria. He wasn\u2019t too effective as a leader and had a hard time
\nkeeping his second-in-command in check. Shekau was more radical and had
\ngrander designs.<\/p>\n
\u2026 And merciless as No. 1<\/p>\n
Mohammed Yusuf was killed in a security crackdown in 2009, along with
\nabout 700 of his followers. That left Shekau in charge. He vowed to strike
\nback, and his group has spared no one: government workers, police
\nofficers, journalists, villagers, students and churchgoers. Human Rights
\nWatch estimates that in the past five years, more than 3,000 people have
\nbeen killed.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s come back from the dead\u2028The Nigerian military has touted
\nShekau\u2019s death several times, only to retract its claim after he appeared
\nalive and vibrant in propaganda videos.\u2028They almost got him in
\nSeptember 2012 when they raided his home, where he had snuck in for his
\nsix-day-old baby\u2019s naming ceremony, according to the International Crisis
\nGroup. He managed to get away with a gunshot wound to the leg; his wife
\nand three children were taken by the military.<\/p>\n
He uses Islam to recruit and radicalize\u2028The northeast, where Boko
\nHaram has been most active, is economically depressed and among the least
\neducated regions in Nigeria. Shekau has done a good job of convincing
\nresidents that the powers in Abuja are corrupt and a better system of
\ngovernment would be a strict enforcement of Islamic Sharia law across
\nNigeria. And his promise, coupled with a weapon and a license to plunder,
\nhas been enticing to hundreds of young men.<\/p>\n
\u2026 and the government\u2019s response isn\u2019t helping\u2028The central
\ngovernment\u2019s heavy-handed and frequently untargeted anti-terrorism
\ncampaign has just helped create more members to sustain Boko Haram. The
\ncountry\u2019s own Human Rights Commission last year accused the military of
\narbitrary killings, torture and rape in its campaign against the group.
\nThis makes for fertile territory for Boko Haram.\u2028He\u2019s exporting his
\nbrand of terror\u2028There\u2019s no firm evidence as yet that Boko Haram has
\nambitions beyond Nigeria. But its campaign of terror has spilled into
\nremote parts of Cameroon and it appears to have informal links with
\nmilitant Islamist groups in Mali and Niger.
\nHe\u2019s made good on his brutal threat\u2028It was in May 2013 that Shekau
\nfirst announced in a video that Boko Haram would start kidnapping girls.
\nThe kidnappings, he said, were retaliation for Nigerian security forces
\nnabbing the wives and children of group members.\u2028The most horrifying
\ninstance was last month\u2019s abduction of 276 girls from a girl\u2019s
\nschool.\u2028\u201cI abducted your girls,\u201d he taunted with a chilling smile in
\na new video that surfaced this week. \u201cThere is a market for selling
\nhumans. Allah says I should sell. He commands me to sell.\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a $7 million bounty on his head\u2028Shekau has been on the radar
\nof U.S. officials since he came to power in 2009. Last June, the United
\nStates put a bounty on him, offering a reward of up to $7 million for
\ninformation leading to his location.<\/p>\n
\u2026 But that\u2019s yet to yield results\u2028Here\u2019s why, says CNN\u2019s Chief
\nInternational Correspondent Christiane Amanpour: \u201c(African warlord) Joseph
\nKony\u2019s had a bounty for years and years. Even with the \u2018Stop Kony\u2019 video
\nthat went viral, nothing has happened to get Joseph Kony \u2014 even though
\nit\u2019s about the only thing in Africa that the United States has committed
\nsome forces and some intelligence to.<\/p>\n
\u201cOsama bin Laden was not given up because of the $25 million bounty. And
\nwho knows whether this will be the case.\u201d
\n*Ahmed is a CNN analyst<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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