There is currently a crack in the wall of insurgents as the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP), a splinter group the Boko Haram sect, is currently enmeshed in furore.
According to TheCable, caught in the web of internal skirmishes is Ba’a Idirisa, son of late Muhammed Yusuf, who is leader of the group in Nigeria, has been killed alongside three other.
Yusuf is the founder of the sect that came into prominence in 2009. His son was reportedly killed commanders.
The ISWAP leaders were killed on February 9 for espousing an agenda which was deemed too soft for the insurgents.
“Idirisa had told his fighters to stop killing captured soldiers and should be kind to villagers,” the source said.
“But elements within the ISWAP leadership were not happy about this. They accused Idirisa and two others of being too soft and that they had been compromised. They were eventually killed.”
Another source said a conversation between Idirisa and an aid organisation, in which the insurgent was overheard pleading for peace, was intercepted.
The source said Idirisa’s death has worsen the crisis in the Boko Haram camp as his loyalists have vowed to rebel.
Some of the fighters have reportedly accused their leaders of misleading them.
The development is coming at a time when the sect lost about 25 of its commanders. The military has carried out a series of raids on Boko Haram targets in the last two months.
Many others, sources said, fled into the neighbouring countries of Chad, Niger and Cameroon as a result of heavy bombardment from security forces.
One Abba Gana, it is understood, has now been named as the new leader of ISWAP in Nigeria.