Boko Haram leader, Shekau, goes blind

• Appoints successor

The leader of the dreaded Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, is being reported to have gone blind; forcing him to appoint Ba’ana Alhaji Madu Katakauma (alias Abu Fatima) as his successor.

ALEDEH.com, revealed that Shekau, who was deputy leader to Mohammed Yusuf until the Boko Haram founder was executed in 2009, is critically ill, cannot walk, completely blind and incapacitated.

Shekau was therefore said to have appointed his successor in a surprising decision on Saturday, June 23, 2018, to sustain the arms struggle in the North. It was gathered that the appointment has been causing dissent from some other commanders.

Until his appointment, Abu Fatima was one of the key commanders of the Boko-Haram terrorist group.

The ailment is coming weeks after Falmata, the mother of Shekau, said she does not know if her son is dead or alive.

Shekau’s mother, who made this comment during an interview with VOA Hausa Service, stressed that she saw her son last fifteen (15) years ago.

Falmata said her son left the village for Maiduguri, Borno State, in search of Islamic knowledge, where he met with Mohammed Yusuf, founder of the sect, and thereafter stayed away from her.

She had declared:  “I don’t know whether he is dead or alive, only God knows. I have not seen him in the last 15 years,” she said during an interview which took place in Shekau, a village in Yobe State.

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

“I know he is my son, and everyone knows a mother’s love for her son, but our attitude to life is different… He has thrown many people into disasters. Where can I find him to draw his attention? He has thrown many people into violence, but I ask God to guide me.”