For Nigeria’s serial presidential candidate, familiarity is both strength and disadvantage.

There is increased speculation about the whereabouts of Abubakar Shekau in the Nigerian media. His last media broadcast was in early March when he pledged allegiance to the self-proclaimed Islamic St…

The outcome of party presidential primaries appears to signal the end of post-military elite political consensus. 

Multiple Nigerian media outlets reported last week that Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has died or been mortally wounded in a confrontation with fighters from the Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA), a group that separated from Shekau’s Boko Haram in 2016. The Nigerian government has not confirmed the reports and is investigating. The caution is well-placed: Shekau has been reported dead at least four times since he became the leader of Boko Haram in 2009 following the police killing of founder Mohammed Yusuf.

Since 2009, the Nigerian security services have regularly reported that they have killed Boko Haram leader and warlord Abubakar Shekau. However, Shekau, or at least a Shekau-like figure, would then s…