A close aide to the leader of Boko Haram on Friday denied claims by the Nigerien army that he was killed in a targeted airstrike in the Lake Chad basin.
The jihadist group has been waging a violent insurgency since 2009 in northeast Nigeria, leaving around 40,000 people dead and forcing over two million from their homes.
Niger had announced late Thursday that Boko Haram’s leader, Bakura — whose real name is Ibrahim Mahamadu — was killed during a “surgical operation” on an island in the Diffa region last week.
But in an audio message sent to AFP by a security source in the Lake Chad area, one of Bakura’s top aides dismissed the reports as “completely false.”
“I am with him now, we are together,” he said in Hausa, describing the Niger army’s statement as “propaganda.”
Several experts contacted by AFP also questioned the unverified claims of Bakura’s death.
Since 2023, Niger has been ruled by a military junta that seized power in a coup but has struggled to contain growing jihadist violence across the country.
Alongside Boko Haram activity in the east, Niger also battles insurgents linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group in the west, near the Mali and Burkina Faso borders.
– No Proof –
Bakura leads a splinter faction loyal to former Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, refusing to merge with rival Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) over ideological rifts.
He and his fighters relocated to islands on the Niger side of Lake Chad after Shekau’s death.
The Niger army claimed Bakura was killed in an airstrike on August 15 but presented no evidence, and AFP could not independently verify the death.
“I believe that we have to be very, very prudent,” said Vincent Foucher, a CNRS researcher who studies Boko Haram.
“They’ve announced the deaths of several jihadist leaders many times, and often those announcements were later contradicted.
“At the moment, we only have an announcement from the authorities.”
Another expert on West African jihadist groups, who asked not to be named, also told AFP that sources suggest Bakura is still alive.
– Student Kidnappings –
Boko Haram’s insurgency has spilled across Nigeria’s porous northeastern borders into Niger, Chad, and Cameroon, with Niger experiencing its first attacks in Bosso, Lake Chad, in 2015.
During the 2010s, Boko Haram’s former leader, Abubakar Shekau, was declared dead multiple times, only to resurface in videos mocking authorities.
He eventually died in 2021, paving the way for Bakura’s leadership.
According to the Nigerien army, Bakura, believed to be around 40, is originally from Nigeria. They allege he played a key role in the abduction of over 300 students in Kuriga, Nigeria, in March 2024 and orchestrated suicide bombings targeting mosques, markets, public spaces, and attacks on Nigerien, Nigerian, and Cameroonian forces.
Bakura reportedly joined Boko Haram over 13 years ago and rose to lead the group after Shekau’s death during infighting in May 2021.
