The Nigerian military on Thursday confirmed the killing of Leader of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), Abu Musab Al-Barnawi.
Naija News reports that the confirmation was made by the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Lucky Irabor.
General Irabor confirmed the killing while speaking at the ministerial briefing organised by the presidential communications team at the Presidential Villa , Abuja.
“I can authoritatively confirm to you that Abu Musab is dead. As simple as that. He is dead and remains dead,” Irabor said.
Naija News had reported that Al-Barnawi was killed in the last week of August.
Al-Barnawi was the son of Boko Haram founder, Mohammed Yusuf who was also killed by security forces in 2009 when he launched a war against the Nigerian state.
How Al-Barnawi was killed
There are two version on how the notorious terrorists was killed.
One version claimed he was killed by Nigerian soldiers while the second version claimed that his death was due to internal rivalry in ISWAP.
A source revealed that the ISWAP leader was killed during an ambush by troops which also claimed the lives of four or five top ISWAP leaders and many foot terrorists loyal to him.
The source said he was killed around Bula Yobe, a community near the Borno/Yobe states border along Mobbar and Abadam axis that leads to the Lake Chad area.
However, a different source said the Bula Yobe where he was ambushed and killed could be accessed from Yale, Bama, Banki junction through the Kashimbri-Gulumba.
Other sources revealed that it was leadership tussle that led to the death of Al-Barnawi.
One of them said the battle of supremacy climaxed between August 14 and 26, 2021, and that the fight had claimed many commanders on both sides.
Yet, another source said the other camp had mobilised some terrorists from Central Africa to overthrow Al-Barnawi and they succeeded
This article was originally published on Naija News