Where is Abubakar Shekau?

Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau (Shoebat)

Abubakar Shekau is nowhere to be found.

The Boko Haram leader was last heard from in March 2015 when he pledged allegiance to the Islamic State terror group (ISIS) via an audio statement.

Since then he has practically gone underground and even failed to make a statement during Nigeria’s recently concluded elections, which he vowed to disrupt.

Prior to this time, it was believed that Shekau had taken refuge in the group’s notorious stronghold, Sambisa Forest.

However, intensive military operations in the forest, which led to the rescue of about 1000 women and children, have failed to provide any clue as to the Boko Haram leader’s whereabouts.

None of the captives freed from the sect has testified to seeing Shekau and the only ones who spoke of him told Reuters that the insurgents frequently threatened to take them to the terrorist boss in his abode deep in the forest.

The Boko Haram leader was recently named as one of TIME’s most influential 100 people in the world; a development to which he would ordinarily have responded by mocking world leaders.

However, Shekau remained unusually silent and is still maintaining that silence to the confusion and bewilderment of many.

A Nigerian military source on Thursday, April 23, told Vanguard of his frustration at the elusiveness of the Boko Haram leader.

“The guy simply disappeared from the radar and suddenly vanished. We wish we can catch him alive,” the source, who chose to remain anonymous, said.

Another report, by the Daily Sun, has it that Shekau might have fled the country.

“Having discovered that he was being tracked through his Thuraya satellite phone, Shekau recently dropped the line and handset totally to evade capture. But the last satellite image of him and other intelligence pieced together by forces on the battle frontline show his desperation to escape from the country to parts of East Africa or North Africa where ISIS is having some foot­holds,” the Sun quotes a military source as saying.

The source also added that Shekau had changed his appearance in order to evade capture.

The Boko Haram leader was last seen in public in 2009 and since then, the Nigerian Army has claimed to have killed him many times.

However, Director of Defence Information, Chris Olukoladehas said that finding Shekau is not the army’s priority.

“The sensational idea of looking out for one individual should not distract us or hold us down,” Olukolade told Reuters.

The US, however, does not share the same sentiments as it has maintained a $7 million (N1.4 billion) bounty placed on Shekau and lists him among 71 most wanted terrorists in the world.

Many have speculated that the real Shekau might in fact be dead and the person who appears on the videos is just a double.

However, whether he is real or fake, many around the world will only heave a sigh of relief when the mystery behind Abubakar Shekau is finally unravelled.