Mohammed Yusuf, also known as Ustaz Mohammed Yusuf, was a Nigerian terrorist who started the terrorist organisation Boko Haram in 2002. He died on July 30, 2009, at age 30. He served as its head up until the Boko Haram rebellion in 2009, when he was slain.
Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad is the group’s official name, and it roughly translates to “People Committed to the Propagation of the Teachings and Jihad” in Arabic.
Yusuf, who was raised in Yobe State, Nigeria’s present-day Yobe State, was born in the village of Girgi in Jakusko. Later, after further Islamic study, he converted to Salafism.
According to researcher Paul Lubeck of the University of California at Santa Cruz, Yusuf received Shia instruction as a young man and was mistakenly connected with Salafism and Ibn Taymiyyah’s beliefs.
Yusuf had four wives and twelve children, one of which was Abu Musab al-Barnawi, who has been claiming since 2016 that he should be Abubakar Shekau’s replacement as the legitimate leader of Boko Haram.
According to reports, he had an opulent lifestyle that included owning and operating a Mercedes-Benz.
After the Boko Haram rebellion in July 2009, the Nigerian military captured Yusuf. He was given up to the Nigerian police for protection. Outside the Maiduguri police headquarters, the authorities executed Yusuf in broad daylight. Police officials first asserted that Yusuf died as a result of injuries incurred during a gunfight with the military or that he was shot while attempting to flee.