Shekau Was Almost Killed In 2012

The Nigerian military has touted Shekau's death several times, only to retract its claim after he appeared alive and vibrant in propaganda videos.

They almost got him in September 2012 when they raided his home, where he had snuck in for his six-day-old baby's naming ceremony, according to the International Crisis Group. He managed to get away with a gunshot wound to the leg; his wife and three children were taken by the military.

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/07/world/africa/abubakar-shekau-profile/

With Shekau (whose nom de guerre is Imam Abu Mohammed Abubakar bin Muhammed Shekau) at the helm of its most significant faction (see below), Boko Haram has grown more ruthless, violent and destructive and less open to dialogue. Perhaps most audacious were its suicide bombings in Abuja of the police headquarters and the UN building in June and August 2011.

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The security forces became more aggressive in turn in September 2012. On 22 September, troops slapped round-the-clock curfews on three cities in the North East, Damaturu, Potiskum and Mubi, killed 36 suspected militants, including a top sect commander and arrested more than 200 in house-to-house raids. Two days later they stormed a Boko Haram enclave in Damaturu, including Shekau’s home. They almost caught him – he had sneaked in the day before for the naming ceremony of his six-day old baby. Fighting was fierce: 35 militants were killed and two soldiers injured. Shekau escaped, with a thigh wound; his wife and three children were taken into military custody. Three SUVs, seven laptops and a large arms cache reportedly were recovered from the house.

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Shekau was said to have been spirited to Gao, in northern Mali, when it was held by Islamist armed groups.

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This is one reason Nigerian troops were deployed to Mali in January 2013 to support the French Operation Serval that expelled Ansar Dine and the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) from that country’s northern cities.

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Shekau now reportedly travels frequently to Niger and Cameroon, facilitated by his Kanuri ethnicity and the long, porous borders. He re-
surfaced in 2013, however, in internet videos demanding the release of detained Boko Haram women and children (presumably including his own family).

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A top commander, Abubakar Yola, alias Abu Jihad, was killed in a shoot-out with troops in Mubi, where 156 suspected members were rounded up. Other factions were neutralised following the capture or killing of their leaders.

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On 17 September 2012, soldiers shot dead a sect spokesman, alias Abul Qaqa, outside Kano, along with the sect commander in charge of central Kogi and Kaduna states and Abuja.

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This was a significant blow, a source close to the sect said, because the two were considered its “think-tank”.