Nigerian security services were yesterday investigating reports that Abubakar Shekau, the leader of Boko Haram, had been killed in fighting.
Cameroon’s army posted what appeared to be a photograph of Shekau on social media.
Eyes closed, clothing in disarray and with what looked like a wound to the head, the grisly figure looked similar to the images of a bearded, AK47-toting Shekau often put out by the Islamist group in videos announcing territorial gains, kidnappings and, most recently, the formation of a supposed Islamic caliphate in Africa’s most powerful nation.