DHAKA: Nigeria’s military claimed Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau was dead, saying troops had shot a lookalike who had been posing as the militant commander.

Defence spokesman Chris Olukolade told reporters in Abuja that a heavily bearded Islamist fighter identified as Mohammed Bashir died during fighting in the town of Konduga, in Borno state.

Bashir, who was said to have had several aliases, had “been acting or posing on videos as the deceased Abubakar Shekau, the eccentric character known as leader of the group”, he added.

The announcement marks the first time that Nigeria’s military has said publicly that Shekau was dead after two previous claims by other security sources that he had died in 2009 and 2013, reports the Times of India.

The military did not, however, say when Shekau was killed. Earlier this year, the spokeswoman for the country’s secret police, Marilyn Ogar, said “the original Shekau is dead” and that the person appearing in videos was an imposter.

BDST: 1710 HRS, SEP 25, 2014