BEVERLY HILLS, SEPTEMBER 09, (THEWILL) – Reports have emerged that the two factions of the Boko Haram sect have engaged each other in a bloody fight over leadership tussle, in Monguno area of Borno State
The sect had split after the Islamic State (IS) announced Abu Musab al-Barnawi, the son of Boko Haram’s founder Mohammed Yusuf, as the sect’s new leader to replace Abubakar Shekau, who rejected the call but insisted that he was still in charge of the group.
Sources in North-East have reported that there have been deadly skirmishes between the two factions, even as Nigeria’s military seeks to finally rout the rebels in a sustained counter-offensive.
There are indications that several fighters from Shekau’s camp were killed in two separate gun battles with IS-backed Barnawi gunmen in the Monguno area of Borno State near Lake Chad.
The Barnawi faction also launched an offensive against the fighters of Shekau faction who were camped in Yele and Arafa villages and killed three people from the Shekau camp, injured one and took one with them.
They also attacked gunmen loyal to Shekau faction in Zuwa village in nearby Marte district, killing an unspecified number.
Shekau, twice reported dead, has led Boko Haram since the death of Mohammed Yusuf in 2009, waging a deadly, indiscriminate guerrilla war that has killed at least 20,000 people and displaced about 2.6 million people.
Story by David Oputah
