The Joint Task Force, JTF, in Borno State claimed on Monday that the wanted leader of the dreaded Boko Haram sect, Abubakar Shekau, may have been killed by the military in an attack on the group between June.

In a press statement issued by the JTF today signed by its spokesman, Sagir Musa, a lieutenant colonel, it said that Intelligence report had “revealed that Abubakar Shekau, the most dreaded and wanted Boko Haram terrorists leader, may have died.”

“He died of gunshot wound received in an encounter with the JTF troops in one of their camps atSambisa Forest on 30 June 2013. Shekau was mortally wounded in the encounter and was sneaked into Amitchide – a border community in Cameroun for treatment which he never recovered from,” the task force’s statement claimed.

Musa said further that “It is greatly believed that Shekau might have died between 25 July to 3 August, 2013.”

Shekau is, perhaps, the most wanted man in Nigeria, having led insurgents who have waged a terrorist war against many states in northern Nigeria, killing more than 2,500 persons in several attacks.

He was declared wanted last year by the Nigerian military with the sum of N50 million placed on him. He has also been declared a terrorist by the American government which also placed a bounty of $7 million on him.

Many crimes have been personally ascribed to Shekau, including the killing of some Muslim clerics in northern Nigeria while he is also said to have was masterminded the kidnap of the seven French citizens and elder statesman Shettima Ali Monguno.

According to Musa, the Boko Haram leader was also responsible for bombings of many places of worship and public buildings including the Police Headquarters and the United Nations Building inAbuja.

However, in a video released on August 13, nearly two weeks after Shekau is said to have been killed by the military, he admonished his followers to continue to wage war against the country and step u[p the killing of innocent people.