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| Abubakar Shekau |
Deadly Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau made TIME magazine 2015 Most Influential People list.
The magazine published its 2015 list of top 100 Most Influential People on its website, Thursday.
Shekau is a ruthless leader with a twisted ideology and the sadistic
architect of a campaign of mayhem and misery across Africa especially
Nigeria.
He operates in the shadows, leaving his underlings to orchestrate his
repulsive mandates. He resurfaces every once in a while in videotaped
messages to mock the impotence of the Nigerian military and he uses his
faith to recruit the impressionable and the disenfranchised to his
cause.
Through his tutelage Boko Haram killed more than 5,000 civilians
between July 2009 and June 2014, including at least 2,000 in the first
half of 2014, in attacks occurring mainly in north-east, north-central
and central Nigeria
The magazine had this to say about Shekau: “Most Americans do not yet recognize his name, but the citizens of Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, know Abubakar Shekau all too well: he is the most violent killer their country has ever seen. Shekau took over the terrorist organization Boko Haram in 2009 after the group had been weakened by Nigerian government forces.
“Shekau, who is believed to be in his 30s, began to stage
increasingly daring kidnapping and killing raids on schools, churches
and mosques thought by Boko Haram to be violating their interpretation
of Islam. The taking of over 200 schoolgirls in April 2014 brought Boko
Haram into the international spotlight.
“By most accounts, Boko Haram has killed more than 10,000 people and
is spreading into neighboring countries. Shekau’s latest action may
finally summon a U.S. response: he has publicly aligned his group with
ISIS, the terrorist group that holds territory in Syria and Iraq and has
expanded its reach into Yemen and Libya.”
President-elect, Gen Muhammadu Buhari and Former Education minister
and co-convener of Bring Back Our Girls, Oby Ezekwesili, author
Chimamanda Adichie also made TIME magazine 100 Most Influential People
list of 2015.
Others are: American President, Barrack Obama, Apple CEO, Tim Cook,
Former US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, Kim Kardashian, Emma
Watson, Reese Witherspoon, Laverne Cox, Julianna Margulies, Amy Schumer,
Taylor Swift, Julianne Moore and Chris Pratt.
Renowned pop star Kanye West and Bradley Cooper shared the cover of
this year’s Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People issue – both men
made the coveted list this year for their impact.
Also receiving separate covers were Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader
Ginsburg, ballet dancer Misty Copeland, and journalist Jorge Ramos.
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