EXTREMIST

Abubakar Shekau

1974 - 2021

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Icon of person Abubakar Shekau

Abubakar Mohammed Shekau (23 March 1973 – 19 May 2021) was a Nigerian militant who was the leader of Boko Haram, an Islamist extremist organization based in northeastern Nigeria, from 2009 to 2021. He served as deputy leader to the group's founder, Mohammed Yusuf, until Yusuf's execution in 2009. Nigerian authorities believed that Shekau was killed in 2009 during clashes between security forces and Boko Haram until July 2010, when Shekau appeared in a video claiming leadership of the group. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Abubakar Shekau has received more than 1,768,656 page views. His biography is available in 32 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 30 in 2019). Abubakar Shekau is the 233rd most popular extremist (down from 204th in 2019), the 46th most popular biography from Nigeria (down from 43rd in 2019) and the most popular Nigerian Extremist.

Memorability Metrics

  • 1.8M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 46.30

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 32

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 5.35

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.29

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among EXTREMISTS

Among extremists, Abubakar Shekau ranks 233 out of 283. Before him are Marvin Heemeyer, Donato Bilancia, John Hinckley Jr., Édouard Vaillant, Warren Jeffs, and Joseph Paul Franklin. After him are Francis Parker Yockey, Yvan Colonna, Abdul Quader Molla, Howard Marks, Robert Pickton, and Bobby Joe Long.

Most Popular Extremists in Wikipedia

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1974, Abubakar Shekau ranks 156. Before him are Kevin Durand, Sean Gunn, Julian Castro, Martin Henderson, Tomer Sisley, and Michael Rasmussen. After him are Nujabes, Paolo Bettini, Joachim Trier, Dan Houser, Marc Gené, and Àlex Corretja. Among people deceased in 2021, Abubakar Shekau ranks 463. Before him are Willard Scott, Beryl Penrose, Kurt Biedenkopf, Djibril Tamsir Niane, Lubomir Kavalek, and Giuseppe Galante. After him are Norm Macdonald, Jan Sokol, Casimir Oyé-Mba, Peter Mark Richman, Michael Fisher, and Orlando Martínez.

Others Born in 1974

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Others Deceased in 2021

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In Nigeria

Among people born in Nigeria, Abubakar Shekau ranks 46 out of 309. Before him are John Onaiyekan (1944), Daniel Amokachi (1972), Obafemi Martins (1984), Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi (1924), Kelechi Iheanacho (1996), and Dick Tiger (1929). After him are Finidi George (1971), Ernest Shonekan (1936), Victor Ikpeba (1973), Sunday Oliseh (1974), Uche Okechukwu (1967), and Bennet Omalu (1968).

Others born in Nigeria

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Among EXTREMISTS In Nigeria

Among extremists born in Nigeria, Abubakar Shekau ranks 1. 

Nigerian born Extremists

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