On May 12, the Department of State Security (DSS) made a shocking revelation that the man claiming to be Abubakar Shekau, the Boko Haram leader, is an impostor.
The original Shekau has since died and the name is now a title for the head of Boko Haram.
But it took the DSS nine months to counter Shekau who released a video on September 26, 2013 that he was still alive.
Former Joint Task Force (JTF) spokesperson in Borno State, Lt Col Sagir Musa, had said that Shekau might have died between July 25 and August 3 in Amitchide, Cameroun, after being “mortally wounded” in an encounter with JTF in Sambisa forest on June 30, 2013.
It was reported around the same time that there was a coup d’etat in the Boko Haram camp which ousted Shekau.
Some dissidents in the group reportedly ousted him because of his highhandedness. So, when Sagir said Nigeria’s most violent terrorist leader could have died, it was easily believed since Shekau himself failed to make his characteristically surprise appearance on Youtube more than a month after the announcement to refute the military’s claim.
But on September 25, 2013 a man who called himself Shekau appeared on video claiming to be alive.
He boasted that he is invincible and listed and mocked world leaders, including President Goodluck Jonathan, United States President Barack Obama, President Francois Hollande of France and Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.
After the video was released, the JTF did not help matters by its silence. The only comment it made was that it was yet to verify the authenticity of the video.
But a close examination of the new Shekau lends credence to the claim by the DSS that the original one is dead.
Though the two Shekaus share certain characteristics – a striking resemblance, acting as if they owned the world and penchant for extreme violence – there are still a number of facial and personality traits that distinguish them.
Ahmed Salkida, a journalist who was a member of Boko Haram before the group became violent, shed light on the personality of the original Shekau to the BBC in 2011.
“He hardly talks, he is fearless. He is fluent in his native Kanuri, Hausa and Arabic languages – he does not speak English. I used to joke with him that he should teach me Arabic and I would teach him English,” Salkida recounted.
He added that the original Shekau had a photographic memory and was well versed in theology.
The new Shekau seems to be also fluent in Arabic, but certainly not in Hausa as his heavy Kanuri accent often gets in the way of his speech. He is also loud and uncoordinated in his speech, unlike the Shekau whom Salkida described.
Videos of the original Shekau also show him as calculating in his speech delivery, unlike the new Shekau who often makes mocking gestures and acts like a drunk.
There is also a difference in Boko Haram brutality under the old Shekau and the new Shekau.
Before the original Shekau was reportedly shot in June last year and his eventual death between July and August 3, Boko Haram was not known for killing school children. But they burnt schools as part of their activities.
However, reports began to emerge from July 6, 2013 that the militants were hacking children to death, the first of which was 29 pupils of the Government Secondary School, Mamudo, Yobe State.
On April 14 this year, the jihadists abducted more than 200 school girls, an act that even Al-Qaeda has refused to endorse.
If the original Shekau is really dead, there is no telling how many deadly Shekaus the terrorists have in their ranks.
