Abu Umaimata

Last updated

Abu Umaimata
Born Nigeria
Allegiance Boko Haram (?–present)
RankLeader (2022–present)
Battles/wars Boko Haram insurgency

Abu Umaimata is a Nigerian militant who is the current leader of Boko Haram, an Islamist militant group involved in an insurgency against Nigeria and other states.

Contents

Biography

Abu Umaimata's origin and background are uncertain. His birth date is unknown for sure, but he is believed to be from Nigeria. When the previous leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, was killed in the battle of Sambisa Forest of 2021, the group splintered with several sub-commanders taking charge. The most important ones were Bakura Doro and Bakura Sahalaba, one of whom may be "Abu Umaimata", though this remains uncertain. [1] On 2 May 2022, Boko Haram published a video declaring Abu Umaimata its new overall leader. [1] Under Abu Umaimata, Boko Haram continued to fight both the regional government as well as its jihadist rival, the Islamic State's West Africa Province. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohammed Yusuf (Boko Haram)</span> Islamist terrorist leader (1970–2009)

Mohammed Yusuf, also known as Ustaz Mohammed Yusuf, was a Nigerian terrorist who founded the Islamist militant group Boko Haram in 2002. He was its leader until he was killed during the 2009 Boko Haram uprising. The group's official name is Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad, which in Arabic means "People Committed to the Propagation of the Teachings and Jihad".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2009 Boko Haram uprising</span> 2009 conflicts between police and Islamist militants in northeastern Nigeria

The 2009 Boko Haram uprising was a conflict between Boko Haram, a militant Islamist group, and Nigerian security forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boko Haram</span> Central-West African jihadist terrorist organization

Boko Haram, officially known as Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihād, is an Islamist jihadist organization based in northeastern Nigeria, which is also active in Chad, Niger, northern Cameroon, and Mali. In 2016, the group split, resulting in the emergence of a hostile faction known as the Islamic State's West Africa Province.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boko Haram insurgency</span> Terrorism in Sub-Saharan Africa

The Boko Haram insurgency began in July 2009, when the militant Islamist and jihadist rebel group Boko Haram started an armed rebellion against the government of Nigeria. The conflict is taking place within the context of long-standing issues of religious violence between Nigeria's Muslim and Christian communities, and the insurgents' ultimate aim is to establish an Islamic state in the region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abubakar Shekau</span> Nigerian militant and former leader of Boko Haram

Abu Mohammed Abubakar al-Sheikawi was a Kanuri terrorist who was the leader of Boko Haram, a Nigerian Islamist militant group from 2009 to 2021. He served as deputy leader to the group's founder, Mohammed Yusuf, until Yusuf's execution in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ansaru</span> Islamist militant organization in Nigeria

The Vanguard for the Protection of Muslims in Black Africa, better known as Ansaru and less commonly called al-Qaeda in the Lands Beyond the Sahel, is an Islamic fundamentalist Jihadist militant organisation based in the northeast of Nigeria. It originated as a faction of Boko Haram but became officially independent in 2012. Despite this, Ansaru and other Boko Haram factions continued to work closely together until the former increasingly declined and stopped its insurgent activities in 2015. Since then, Ansaru is mostly dormant though its members continue to spread propaganda for their cause.

Timeline of the Boko Haram insurgency is the chronology of the Boko Haram insurgency, an ongoing armed conflict between Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram and the Nigerian government. Boko Haram have carried out many attacks against the military, police and civilians since 2009, mostly in Nigeria. The low-intensity conflict is centred on Borno State. It peaked in the mid-2010s, when Boko Haram extended their insurgency into Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping</span> Kidnapping of female students in Chibok in Borno State, Nigeria

On the night of 14–15 April 2014, 276 mostly Christian female students aged from 16 to 18 were kidnapped by the Islamic terrorist group called Boko Haram from the Government Girls Secondary School at the town of Chibok in Borno State, Nigeria. Prior to the raid, the school had been closed for four weeks due to deteriorating security conditions, but the girls were in attendance in order to take final exams in physics.

From 20 to 23 June 2014, a series of attacks occurred in Borno State, Nigeria. 91 women and children were kidnapped in the attacks and more than 70 people were killed.

Religious violence in Nigeria refers to Christian-Muslim strife in modern Nigeria, which can be traced back to 1953. Today, religious violence in Nigeria is dominated by the Boko Haram insurgency, which aims to establish an Islamic state in Nigeria. Since the turn of the 21st century, 62,000 Nigerian Christians have been killed by the terrorist group Boko Haram, Fulani herdsmen and other groups. The killings have been referred to as a silent genocide.

The following lists events from 2014 in Nigeria.

The 2015 Baga massacre was a series of mass killings carried out by the Boko Haram terrorist group in the north-eastern Nigerian town of Baga and its environs, in the state of Borno, between 3 January and 7 January 2015.

Abu Qaqa or Abu Kaka is an assumed name of the official spokesperson for the Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram. Described as the chief information officer and a key leader in the militant group, Qaqa was known for speaking to reporters explaining the motives of the group and taking credit for attacks. At various times the Nigerian government has claimed his capture or death, but this has been denied by Boko Haram.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamic State – West Africa Province</span> Militant group and branch of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

The Islamic State's West Africa Province (ISWAP), officially Wilāyat Garb Ifrīqīyā, meaning "West African Province", is a militant group and administrative division of the Islamic State (IS), a Salafi jihadist militant group and unrecognised quasi-state. ISWAP is primarily active in the Chad Basin, and fights an extensive insurgency against the states of Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Turkey. It is an offshoot of Boko Haram with which it has a violent rivalry; Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau killed himself in battle with ISWAP in 2021. Until March 2022, ISWAP acted as an umbrella organization for all IS factions in West Africa including the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (IS-GS), although the actual ties between ISWAP and IS-GS were limited.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 West African offensive</span> Coalition offensive against Boko Haram

Starting in late January 2015, a coalition of West African troops launched an offensive against the Boko Haram insurgents in Nigeria.

Abu Musab al-Barnawi, born Habib Yusuf, is a Nigerian Islamic militant who served as the leader of the Islamic State's branch in West Africa (ISWAP) between August 2016 and March 2019, and again around May 2021. He also served in various other capacities within ISWAP such as head of its shura. Before pledging allegiance to IS, al-Barnawi was the spokesperson for Boko Haram. Multiple sources reported that al-Barnawi was killed in 2021, but later research by the Crisis Group, Humangle Media, and others proved that these claims were inaccurate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chad Basin campaign (2018–2020)</span> Series of battles and offensives in the Chad Basin

The Chad Basin campaign of 2018–2020 was a series of battles and offensives in the southern Chad Basin, particularly northeastern Nigeria, which took place amid the ongoing Boko Haram insurgency. The Chad Basin witnessed an upsurge of insurgent activity from early November 2018, as rebels belonging to the Islamic State's West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Boko Haram launched offensives and several raids to regain military strength and seize territory in a renewed attempt to establish an Islamic state in the region. These attacks, especially those by ISWAP, met with considerable success and resulted in the displacement of hundreds of thousands of civilians. The member states of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF), namely Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon responded to the increased insurgent activity with counter-offensives. These operations repulsed the rebels in many areas but failed to fully contain the insurgency.

In May 2021, the Islamic State's West Africa Province (ISWAP) launched an invasion of the Sambisa Forest in Borno State, Nigeria, which was serving as the main base of Boko Haram, a rival jihadist rebel group. Following heavy fighting, ISWAP overran the Boko Haram troops, cornering their leader Abubakar Shekau. The two sides entered negotiations about Boko Haram's surrender during which Shekau committed suicide, possibly detonating himself with a suicide vest. Shekau's death was regarded as a major event by outside observers, as he had been one of the main driving forces in the Islamist insurgency in Nigeria and neighboring countries since 2009.

Between December 30, 2022 and January 7, 2023, Boko Haram launched a series of raids against Islamic State – West Africa Province on various islands on Lake Chad, with major battles occurring on Toumbun Allura Karnawa and Toumbun Gini.

References

Works cited

  • Zenn, Jacob (6 June 2022). "Boko Haram Pledges Loyalty to Mysterious New Leader: Abu Umaimata". Militant Leadership Monitor. 13 (5). Jamestown Foundation.