Boko Haram: Abubakar Shekau’s Mother Speaks In Revealing Interview

Falmata Abubakar, mother of the elusive leader of the dreaded Boko Haram sect, Abubakar Shekau, has made startling revelations into how her son joined the terrorist group.

Speaking in an interview with the Hausa Service of the Voice of America (VOA) in Yobe State, Mrs Abubakar said it was in search of Islamic Knowledge as an “almajiri boy” that Shekau met with the founding leader of the Boko Haram group, Mohammed Yusuf.

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She said Shekau, who has led series of deadly terrorism attacks in both Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger, has not been in contact with her in the last 15 years.

Mrs Abubakar equally revealed that Shekau’s late father was the Imam of a Mosque in a vllage baring the same name as the Boko Haram leader.

“I don’t know whether he (Shehu) is dead or alive, only God knows, I have not seen him in the last 15 years,” she said.

“I did not set my eyes on him since he came into contact with Mohammed Yusuf,” she said.

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“I know he is my son, and everyone knows a mother’s love for her son, but our attitude to life is different,” she said.

She also said “He has put so many people in serious difficulty, I pray that God guides him right”.

Mrs Abubakar, who noted that she will not curse her son, said: “He just took his own character and went away,” adding that “This is not the character I gave him. I don’t know what this type of behavior is. It’s only God who knows.”

Shekau became the leader of the Boko Haram group after the death of its founder, Mr Yusuf, who was killed by the Nigeria Police.

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