Killers of Sheikh Jafar Finally Confess

Late Sheikh Jafar Mahmud Adam

After years of uncertainty and accusations, a controversial and  sensitive issue can finally be put to rest. 

The Boko Haram terror group has finally claimed responsibility for the assassination of prominent Muslim cleric, Sheikh Jafar. 

On Thursday 13^th February, Boko Haram released a video declaring war on a number of Nigerians most prominently, the Minister for Communication and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami.

Shekau was heard saying in the video, “I am speaking to those who pretend to be good Muslims but they are not. God will judge the hypocrites of Islam who use the platform of religion to achieve their selfish gains. We don’t judge people until we are sure of what we have seen in them. This video message is specifically released because of one man, who thinks he has knowledge and is knowledgeable about religion. Keep this message in your heart until you die if you don’t repent. From today, you will continue to live in sorrow, because I, Shekau, say so on behalf of Allah, Allah hears us, he is the judge in the hereafter. This warning is for Isa Ali Panatami; don’t think simply because you preach in English or because you are called a doctor, means you have knowledge of Islam. You know nothing. Today you have become a minister, and you are feeling you can achieve your selfish ends. You must know that speaking English is not Islam…”

Shekau then went on to confess to the killing of Sheikh Jafar, he said, ‘‘I call on my brothers in Africa, in Nigeria and everywhere to arise and take steps, what they did to Jafar is little. Anywhere you see Isa Ali Pantami, don’t spare him. Isa Ali Pantami you are nothing; even Jafar tried the same thing but we dealt with him; talk less of you that is nothing in Islam. And from today on, you would not have peace of mind because you have dared Allah, his prophet and the religion of Islam…”

By “we dealt with him (Sheikh Jafar)”; ‘we’ is clearly a pointer to Boko Haram and their compatriots.

Sheikh Jafar Mahmud Adam was a most prominent Muslim cleric in Nigeria and probably West Africa. Born on 12^th February 1960, Sheikh Jafar was an outspoken cleric on both politics and Islamic theology in Nigeria. He was gunned down in his mosque during the morning prayers (Salatul Fajr) on 13^th April 2007.

Several theories emerged as to who was responsible for the killing, those accused included the then president, Olusegun Obasanjo, the then governor of Kano state, Ibrahim Shekarau, and the Shiite movement headed by Ibrahim Zakzaky. 

The accusations against Shiites were significantly silenced on 3^rd November 2014 when a Shiite procession was attacked by Boko Haram. About 15 Shiites were killed in the attack.

According to the Institute for Security Studies, between 2010 and 2013, at least 18 Islamic clerics were killed by Boko Haram.

Boko Haram is acclaimed to be the deadliest terror group in sub-Saharan Africa and has so far killed over 30, 000 people displacing millions of others in Nigeria and neighbouring countries like Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

The group is said to have around 15, 000 militants within its ranks; it was founded by Mohammed Yusuf in 2002 and is currently led by Abubakar Shekau whose death has been announced several times by two Nigerian administrations.

At the start of the Boko Haram insurgency in 2009, the group gained the support of many Muslims in northern Nigeria. The first Boko Haram attacks targeted members of the security forces who are greatly hated by the masses due to their frequent display of high handedness.

Boko Haram however showed their intent for northern Nigeria as they commenced incessant attacks against the Muslims of the region declaring them infidels.

Muhammadu Buhari became President of Nigeria in 2015 with a major promise to bring security to the country by ending the Boko Haram menace; it is a promise that hasn’t been fulfilled nearly five years later.