Daesh imposes new leader on Nigeria’s Boko Haram

Two of the supposed leaders of Boko Haram have seemingly been put at odds with each other in a power struggle within Daesh’s west African affiliate.

Daesh announced on Tuesday that the group that has ravaged northern Nigeria for the past seven years had a new leader – Abu Musab al-Barnawi. The Guardian cites a Daesh magazine which reportedly carried out an interview with him, claiming he was previously a Boko Haram spokesman.

However an audio message apparently recorded by Abubakar Shekau, the long-time leader of Boko Haram was released on Thursday denying al-Barnawi’s claim. In the recording, a man who said he was Shekau reportedly said that he was still in control of Boko Haram. The armed terrorist group’s most notorious crime was the abduction of around 300 schoolgirls from their dormitory two years ago.

Shekau is said to have overseen the brutal and bloody growth of the group with more than 20,000 people being killed and 2.2 million driven from their homes since he became Boko Haram’s leader in 2009. Thousands have been raped, abducted and enslaved.

According to some analysts, Daesh rejected Shekau because of Boko Haram’s deadly attacks on Muslims. But in March of last year, Boko Haram announced that it was Daesh’s west African affiliate, switching allegiance from al-Qaida.