Abubakar Shekau, also known by the alias Darul Tawheed is the Islamist leader of the Nigerian militant group Boko Haram. He served as deputy leader to the group's founder, Mohammed Yusuf, until Yusuf was killed in 2009. Nigerian authorities believed that Shekau was killed in 2009 during clashes between security forces and Boko Haram until July 2010 when he appeared in a video claiming leadership of the group. He has subsequently been reported killed with regularity, and is thought to use body doubles.
Shekau is an ethnic Kanuri but also speaks Hausa, Arabic, and English. Shekau claims to be an intellectual and theologian who studied Islam "under a traditional cleric".
