Islamic State has named a new leader for the militant group Boko Haram, which has been terrorizing the north-eastern part of Nigeria and neighbouring countries like Niger, Chad and Cameroon.
One Abu Musab al-Barnawi was named Islamic State’s governor for West Africa in a two-page interview in its weekly magazine, al-Naba, which was circulated late on Tuesday.
Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari, has made significant success in the effort to defeat Boko Haram, which had sworn allegiance to Isis in 2015.
Boko Haram controlled a swathe of land in north-east Nigeria at the end of 2014 but was pushed out by Nigerian troops, aided by soldiers from neighboring countries.
Since then, they have resorted to carrying out suicide bombings in northeast Nigeria and neighboring countries and targeting unarmed persons.
The terror group has tried to create a state adhering to strict sharia law in the northeast during a seven-year insurgency.
Boko Haram was known to have been led by a man called Abubakar Shekau, who appeared as the spokesperson for the group in numerous videos.
Shekau had reportedly released a video purportedly showing remorse over the insurgency in the northeast of Nigeria.
But the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) in a statement said that the Nigerian Armed Forces would continue with its operations against insurgents in the north-east in spite of the purported Boko Haram video.
The latest publication by the Islamic State, however, did not mention Shekau, whose death has also been reported by the Nigerian Army at different times.
In the interview, al-Barnawi said Boko Haram was “still a force to be reckoned with” and that it had been receiving new recruits.
