Boko Haram kills Islamic cleric in Borno and traditional ruler in Yobe

– Members of the terror group operating in northern Nigeria, Boko Haram, late Sunday assassinated Mustapha Geidam, the District Head of Geidam, Yobe State and Sheik Saina Alhaji Ajiya, 60, an Islamic cleric in Konduga, a town near Maiduguri. The killings occurred on Sunday night.
 
The district head, Mustapha Geidam, was a former protocol officer to Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim. He was assassinated in front of his residence after the Maghreb prayers.
 
Confirming Mustapha’s assassination, Tanko Lawan, Yobe’s Police Commissioner said the district head was relaxing in front of his residence when he was attacked and killed, adding that the Boko Haram had sent him a letter alerting him that he had been marked for death and would be killed unless he relocated from his palace.
 
Also, confirming the killing of the Sheik Ajiya, Borno State Police Spokesman, Mr. Samuel Tizhe said he was killed after Boko Haram hit men forcefully entered his residence and fired several fatal shots into his head and chest in front of his family. No arrests have been made following the assassinations.
 
Support for Boko Haram amongst religious clerics and Muslim leaders in some northern states have been on the decline following the indiscriminate and often-senseless manner the group has promoted its radical Islamic ideology.