# Abubakar Shekau, leader of Boko Haram, is dead **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 22, 2021, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abubakar-shekau-leader-of-boko-haram-is-dead/942698 "2021-05-22T16:32:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2021, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abubakar-shekau-leader-of-boko-haram-is-dead/942698/1 "2021-05-22T16:32:13Z")
The leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, is dead. The WSJ reports that a rival Islamic group infiltrated his compound, and rather than be taken hostage, he detonated his suicide vest. The Nigerian govt has, apparently, falsely declared him dead 4 times, so the journal cited a lot of evidence. > **[WSJ News Exclusive | Boko Haram Leader, Responsible for Chibok Schoolgirl...](https://www.wsj.com/articles/boko-haram-leader-responsible-for-chibok-schoolgirl-kidnappings-dies-11621608392)** > > Abubakar Shekau, the fundamentalist warlord who turned Boko Haram from an obscure radical sect into a jihadist army whose war with the Nigerian state has killed tens of thousands, has died, according to officials, mediators, phone calls and... ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2021, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abubakar-shekau-leader-of-boko-haram-is-dead/942698/2 "2021-05-22T16:53:26Z")
WaPo has a story too: > **[Is Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau dead this time? The Nigerian military is...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/05/21/boko-haram-abubakar-shekau-dead-iswap/)** > > An internal report by Nigeria’s intelligence agency said Shekau detonated explosives that killed him Wednesday when rival fighters tried to capture him. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2021, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abubakar-shekau-leader-of-boko-haram-is-dead/942698/3 "2021-05-22T17:48:22Z")
So is that sect going to sink back into obscurity, or have enough dedicated terrorists remained behind to keep it going? ---
**Author:** ![Ynnad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4491bb/32.png) [@Ynnad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ynnad)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2021, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abubakar-shekau-leader-of-boko-haram-is-dead/942698/4 "2021-05-22T18:02:34Z")
I don’t know about the rest of youse guys but _Whiter Shade of Pale_ was always my favorite. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/St6jyEFe5WM/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AHUBoAC4AOKAgwIABABGGUgSihDMA8=&rs=AOn4CLCr6LSO4c78jBbbXC50Fkc-j4STZA "Procol Harum - A Whiter Shade of Pale, live in Denmark 2006") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=St6jyEFe5WM) ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2021, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abubakar-shekau-leader-of-boko-haram-is-dead/942698/5 "2021-05-22T18:26:56Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > So is that sect going to sink back into obscurity, or have enough dedicated terrorists remained behind to keep it going? I doubt we’ll know for several months. I’m obviously hoping for the former. As a proponent of western book learning (the “boko” which they believed was “haram”, or forbidden) I have been pretty antithetical to Boko Haram, and anything that hurts them seems good to me. But it’s not clear to me what the goals and methods of the sect that, for practical purposes, took him out are. Maybe they are a lot better. Maybe they are a more organized version of much the same philosophy. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2021, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abubakar-shekau-leader-of-boko-haram-is-dead/942698/6 "2021-05-22T18:46:34Z")
> [@Ynnad](#): > > I don’t know about the rest of youse guys but _Whiter Shade of Pale_ was always my favorite. My mind went there too.