“The Nigerians have announced several times that the head of Boko Haram was dead and every single time we find out that it is not true,” a senior State Department official told reporters.
“What I read recently is that Shekau’s lookalike or some Shekau impostor was killed and then I read later that maybe Shekau himself was killed. I don’t put a lot of weight on those stories until we see more evidence,” the official added, asking not to be identified.