3 reasons why Boko Haram leader is 'influential person'

fuad lawal

April 16, 2015 10:24 PM

Shekau has etched his name with a bloody chisel on the stone of terrorist infamy...

Time magazine recently released its TIME 100, a list of the 100 most influential people, and Nigeria's not-very-own Abubakar Shekau, the leader of the terrorist organisation, Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'Awati Wal-Jihad, popularly called Boko Haram, made the list under the category he bests fits in, "Leaders".

Mixed reactions have followed his inclusion in the list with someone wondering why the "lunatic" would be on the same list with one of the people in the forefront of standing against what he's been most infamous for recently, Mrs Oby Ezekweseli.

Some think TIME is just being hilarious by adding him to the list. But pause for a moment, take away all your anger and sadness and all those emotions that might hinder you from seeing the clear picture. Ask yourself, is Shekau really influential or not?

After he returned "from the dead" after he was believed to have been killed in a 2009 crackdown, Shekau became the leader of the group, after the founder, his predecessor, Muhammad Yusuf, was killed in 2009.

Since his return to the scene, Boko Haram has staged more daring, deadly attacks, bringing casualty numbers to over 10,000 in only a few years.

On the question that you are still asking on why Shekau made the list, these are two answers:

Shekau turned the eyes of the world to one place, a town called Chibok.

fuad lawal