Boko Haram Leader - Shekau Among World’s Most Influential People – Time Magazine

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.