ISIS-backed Boko Haram faction allegedly gets new leader

The leader of an Islamic State-backed faction of Boko Haram may have been replaced, sources say, against a backdrop of speculation as to his fate — and the group’s future direction.

Three sources with deep knowledge of the group said they had been told in recent days that the Islamic State West Africa Province had dropped Abu Mus’ab Al-Barnawi.

A previously unknown figure named Abu Abdullah Ibn Umar Albarnawi is said to have replaced Al-Barnawi, whose father Muhammad Yusuf founded Boko Haram in 2002.

The name Al-Barnawi or variations of it derive from Arabic words meaning “The man from Borno,” a state in northeastern Nigeria.

“If the information turns out to be true, it will have far-reaching implications and raise a lot of questions, including the fate of Al-Barnawi,” one of the sources told AFP.

“The big question is, where is Al-Barnawi? Is he alive or is he dead? Knowing how Boko Haram operates, it is unlikely for a leader to be deposed and allowed to move freely.”

Under Al-Barnawi, ISWAP split from the faction led by longtime Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau in mid-2016 in opposition to the latter’s indiscriminate targeting of civilians.

Shekau had previously pledged allegiance to ISIS chief Abubakr al-Baghdadi in 2015 but ISIS recognised only Al-Barnawi as leader.

Al-Barnawi was considered only a figurehead, with the real power being held by his second-in-command, Mamman Nur.

Nur, who was the mastermind of the 2011 bombing of the UN headquarters in Abuja which killed 26, was assassinated by more radical ISWAP commanders in August 2018.

Since then, Al-Barnawi “has been living on the fringes, careful not to cross the path of the new leadership and earn their wrath”, a second source said.

A third said any change in leadership, which has sparked online speculation among those tracking the conflict, could be considered a “formality”.

“Al-Barnawi had long lost relevance in the group,” he said.

Source: Punch NG