Shekau died around May 18 after detonating an explosive device when he was pursued by the Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP) fighters following a battle.
Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau holds a weapon in an unknown location in Nigeria in a Jan 15, 2018, file photo. Reuters
MAIDUGURI: The Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP) militant group said in an audio recording heard on Sunday that Abubakar Shekau, leader of rival Nigerian militant group Boko Haram, was dead.
Shekau died around May 18 after detonating an explosive device when he was pursued by ISWAP fighters following a battle, a person purporting to be ISWAP leader Abu Musab al Barnawi said on the audio recording.
“Abubakar Shekau, God has judged him by sending him to heaven,” he can be heard saying.
A poster displayed along the road shows photograph of Imam Abubakar Shekau, leader of the militant Islamist group Boko Haram, declared wanted by the Nigerian military with $320,471 reward for information that could lead to his capture in northeastern Nigeria town of Maiduguri May 1, 2013. Abubakar Shekau, leader of Islamist sect that has killed about 4,000 people since 2009 when it began its campaign of terror is Nigeria s most wanted man, who has been designated a terrorist by the US government. President Goodluck Jonathan has approved the constitution of a Presidential Committee to constructively engage key members of Boko Haram and define a comprehensive and workable framework for resolving the crisis of insecurity in the country. AFP PHOTO/PIUS UTOMI EKPEI (Photo credit should read PIUS UTOMI EKPEI/AFP/Getty Images)
Former prime minister Tony Blair has said it is “time to distinguish for the purposes of freedom” between people who are vaccinated and unvaccinated when it comes to travel and domestically.
Mr Blair also described the NHS app that proves vaccination as “inadequate” as he said it makes “no sense at all to treat those who have had vaccination as the same as those who haven’t”.
The former Labour leader was reacting to a report published by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change which says “vaccine status matters” and champions the idea of health passes “to allow citizens to prove their status in a secure, privacy-preserving way”.