Nigerian troops kill Boko Haram second in command, Abu Saad – JTF

The Nigerian military has announced that it has killed the deputy leader of the Boko Haram sect during onslaught against the group in Borno State.

The military Joint Task Force, JTF, said it killed Momodu Bama – aka Abu Saad – on August 4, during an offensive by the sect on a Mobile Police Base, and Bama Town.

Abu Saad was Boko Haram’s Operation Officer and second in command to Abubakar Shekau and was one of the most “vicious and heartless killer in the group with penchant for slaughtering his victims,” the military said in a statement on Tuesday.

Before his death, the JTF placed a N25 million bounty on him.

The military said Abu Saad was killed alongside his father, Abatcha Flatari, who was described as “one the spiritual mentors” of Boko Haram.

He was “in charge of indoctrinating child foot soldiers who are mainly abducted children,” Sagir Musa, spokesman of the Borno JTF, said in the statement.

The military increased its offensive on the sect and other criminal groups in three northeastern states – Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe – after a State of Emergency was declared there in May.