(VOVworld) - Nigeria's military on Wednesday confirmed publicly for the first time that Abubakar Shekau, leader of the extremist organization Boko Haram, was dead, but didn’t say when or how he died. Last year the US put up a 7 million USD reward for Shekau's capture as part of its Rewards for Justice program and designated him a "global terrorist".
A poster advertising for the search of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau is pasted on a wall in Baga village in the north-eastern state of Borno.
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Boko Haram became the biggest security threat to Nigeria in 2009 when it led insurgents demanding an Islamic State in the north. Attacks by Boko Haram have killed more than 10,000 people and forced hundreds of thousand people to leave their homes. The group has also kidnapped civilians. In late May, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan directed a campaign against the Islamic extremists in order to stop terrorism in Nigerian.