The Man Shekau ...The Missing Chibok Girls

He is the face of terror. A ruthless leader with a twisted ideology. And the sadistic architect of a campaign of mayhem and misery.

And yet, very little is known about Abubakar Shekau, the leader of Boko Haram. He operates in the shadows, leaving his underlings to orchestrate his repulsive mandates. He resurfaces every once in a while in videotaped messages to mock the impotence of the Nigerian military. And he uses his faith to recruit the impressionable and the disenfranchised to his cause.

Shekau was born in Shekau village that borders Niger. He studied under a cleric and then attended Borno State College of Legal and Islamic Studies for higher studies on Islam.

That’s why he’s also known as ‘Darul Tawheed,’ which translates to an expert in monotheism, or the oneness of Allah.

 He speaks several languages fluently: Hausa, Fulani, Kanuri and Arabic. But English isn’t one of them. After all, he heads a group that rejects all things Western.

He’s elusive. Even his age is unknown — estimates range between 38 and 49.

The U.S. State Department has Shekau’s year of birth listed as 1965, 1969 and 1975.

He’s a loner. Analysts describe Shekau as a loner and a master of disguise. He does not speak directly with members, opting to communicate through a few select confidants.

 He uses many aliases: Abu Bakr Skikwa, Imam Abu Bakr Shiku and Abu Muhammad Abu Bakr Bin Muhammad Al Shakwi Al Muslimi Bishku among them.

 He was an unruly No. 2. Boko Haram was founded by Mohammed Yusuf, a charismatic, well-educated cleric who drove a Mercedes as part of his push for a pure Islamic state in Nigeria. He wasn’t too effective as a leader and had a hard time keeping his second-in-command in check. Shekau was more radical and had grander designs. And merciless as No. 1. Mohammed Yusuf was killed in a security crackdown in 2009, along with about 700 of his followers. That left Shekau in charge. He vowed to strike back, and his group has spared no one: government workers, police officers, journalists, villagers, students and churchgoers. Human Rights Watch estimates that in the past five years, more than 3,000 people have been killed.

He’s come back from the dead. The military has touted Shekau’s death several times, only to retract its claim after he appeared alive and vibrant in propaganda videos.

 They almost got him in September 2012 when they raided his home, where he had snuck in for his six-day-old baby’s naming ceremony, according to the International Crisis Group. He managed to get away with a gunshot wound to the leg; his wife and three children were taken by the military.

 He uses Islam to recruit and radicalise. The northeast, where Boko Haram has been most active, is economically depressed and among the least educated regions in Nigeria.

There’s no firm evidence as yet that Boko Haram has ambitions beyond Nigeria. But its campaign of terror has spilled into remote parts of Cameroon and it appears to have informal links with militant Islamist groups in Mali and Niger.

It was in May 2013 that Shekau first announced in a video that Boko Haram would start kidnapping girls. The kidnappings, he said, were retaliation for Nigerian security forces nabbing the wives and children of group members.

The most horrifying instance was last month’s abduction of 276 girls from a girl’s school.

“I abducted your girls,” he taunted with a chilling smile in a new video that surfaced this week. “There is a market for selling humans. Allah says I should sell. He commands me to sell.”

There’s a $7 million bounty on his head. Shekau has been on the radar of U.S. officials since he came to power in 2009. Last June, the United States put a bounty on him, offering a reward of up to $7 million for information leading to his location. But that’s yet to yield results.

THE LIST OF  THE MISSING CHIBOK GIRLS




1 Deborah Abge
2. Awa Abge
3. Hauwa Yirma
4. Asabe Manu
5. Mwa Malam pogu
6. Patiant Dzakwa
7. Saraya Mal. Stover
8. Mary Dauda
9. Gloria Mainta
10. Hanatu Ishaku
11. Gloria Dama
12. Tabitha Pogu
13. Maifa Dama
14. Ruth kollo
15. Esther Usman
16. Awa James
17. Anthonia Yahonna
18. Kume Mutah
19. Aisha Ezekial
20. Nguba Buba
21. Kwanta Simon
22. Kummai Aboku
23. Esther Markus
24. Hana Stephen
25. Rifkatu Amos
26. Rebecca Mallum
27. Blessing Abana
28. Ladi Wadai
29. Tabitha Hyelampa
30. Ruth Ngladar
31. Safiya Abdu
32. Na’omi Yahonna
33. Solomi Titus
34. Rhoda John
35. Rebecca Kabu
36. Christy Yahi
37. Rebecca Luka
38. Laraba John
39 Saratu Markus
40. Mary Usman
41 Debora Yahonna
42. Naomi Zakaria
43 Hanatu Musa
44. Hauwa Tella
45. Juliana Yakubu
46. Suzana Yakubu
47. Saraya Paul
48. Jummai Paul
49. Mary Sule
50. Jummai John
51. Yanke Shittima
52. Muli Waligam
53. Fatima Tabji
54. Eli Joseph
55. Saratu Emmanuel
56. Deborah Peter
57. Rahila Bitrus
58. Luggwa Sanda
59. Kauna Lalai
60. Lydia Emmar
61. Laraba Maman
62. Hauwa Isuwa
63. Confort Habila
64. Hauwa Abdu
65. Hauwa Balti
66. Yana Joshua
67. Laraba Paul
68. Saraya Amos
69. Glory Yaga
70. Na’omi Bitrus
71. Godiya Bitrus
72. Awa Bitrus
73. Na’omi Luka
74. Maryamu Lawan
75. Tabitha Silas
76. Mary Yahona
77. Ladi Joel
78. Rejoice Sanki
79. Luggwa Samuel
80. Comfort Amos
81. Saraya Samuel
82. Sicker Abdul
83. Talata Daniel
84. Rejoice Musa
85. Deborah Abari
86. Salomi Pogu
87. Mary Amor
88. Ruth Joshua
89. Esther John
90. Esther Ayuba
91. Maryamu Yakubu
91. Zara Ishaku
93. Maryamu Wavi
94. Lydia Habila
95. Laraba Yahonna
96. Na’omi Bitrus
97. Rahila Yahanna
98. Ruth Lawan
99. Ladi Paul
100. Mary Paul
101. Esther Joshua
102. Helen Musa
103. Margret Watsai
104. Deborah Jafaru
105. Filo Dauda
106. Febi Haruna
107. Ruth Ishaku
108. Racheal Nkeki
109. Rifkatu Soloman
110. Mairama yahaya
111. Saratu Dauda
112. Jinkai Yama
113. Margret Shettima
114. Yana yidau
115. Grace Paul
116. Amina Ali
117. Palmata Musa
118. Awagana Musa
119. Pindar Nuhu
120. Yana Pogu
121. Saraya Musa
122. Hauwa Joseph
123. Hauwa kwakwi
125. Hauwa Musa
126. Maryamu Musa
127. Maimuna Usman
128. Rebeca Joseph
129. Liyatu Habitu
130. Rifkatu Yakubu
131. Naomi Philimon
132. Deborah Abbas
133. Ladi Ibrahim
134. Asabe Ali
135. Maryamu Bulama
136. Ruth Amos
137. Mary Ali
138. Abigail Bukar
139. Deborah Amos
140. Saraya Yanga
141. Kauna Luka
142. Christiana Bitrus
143. Yana Bukar
144. Hauwa peter
145. Hadiza Yakubu
146. Lydia Simon
147. Ruth Bitrus
148. Mary Yakubu
149. Lugwa Mutah
150 . Muwa Daniel
151. Hanatu Nuhu
152. Monica Enoch
153. Margret Yama
154. Docas yakubu
155. Rhoda peter
156. Rifkatu Galang
157. Saratu Ayuba
158. Naomi Adamu
159. Hauwa Ishaya
160. Rahap Ibrahim
162. Deborah Soloman
163. Hauwa Mutah
164. Hauwa Takai
165. Serah Samuel

Muslim Girls
166. Aishatu Musa
167. Aishatu Grema
168. Hauwa Nkeki
169. Hamsatu Abubakar
170. Mairama Abubakar
171 Hauwa Wule
172. Ihyi Abdu
173. Hasana Adamu
174. Rakiya Kwamtah
175. Halima Gamba
176. Aisha Lawan
177. Kabu Malla
178. Yayi Abana
179. Falta Lawan
180. Kwadugu Manu

 

May 13, 2014