According to reports, there’s intra-fighting in the Boko Haram terrorist group. The factionalization of the terror sect became apparent when ISIS announced Abu Musab al-Barnawi as the new leader of the group, which pledged allegiance to the Middle East insurgent sect in March last year.
Abubakar Shekau, the previous leader insisted he is still in charge, and the AFP news agency quoted local sources saying deadly skirmishes have now broken out between supporters of either man.
Mele Kaka, who lives in the area, told AFP the Barnawi faction had launched the attacks in each case, on areas controlled by Shekau supporters.
After each attack, he said, the Barnawi fighters told villagers the other faction had “derailed from the true jihad” by killing innocent people and looting their property.
The Isis-supporting faction has previously rejected Shekau’s preferred strategy of suicide bombings in crowded areas. In comments shortly after he was named the new leader, Barnawi criticized his predecessor for “targeting the ordinary people”.
Ali Mohammed, a member of an army-supporting vigilante group based in Monguno, told Bloomberg around 18 Boko Haram fighters were understood to have surrendered to the army, along with their families, following the in-fighting.
“They are under custody of Monguno command and we believe the dual battle between Barnawi’s and Shekau’s camps may have compelled them to sneak out and surrender,” he said.
Boko Haram has suffered devastating set backs in recent times due to continuous bombardment by the Nigerian military even though the sect still very much constitutes a danger in the north-east.
