Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has died in battle with Nigerian forces, according to news now making the rounds in Borno State, the troubled north-eastern Nigerian state that has been in the grip of the murderous sect since 2009.

Rumours about the death of Shekau and some of his commanders in the battle with troops in Konduga has been spreading across the state since yesterday.

“Shekau’s reported death is contained in the account of some of the survivours of an attack of the sect on Mainok on Friday, as they said they were afraid of returning to the town ‘because we are told the insurgents are mad as a result of the killing of their leader, Abubakar Shekau, in Konduga’,” says a report this morning in Sunday Tribune.

News Express reports that Nigerian troops last week routed the terrorists in Konduga, a town located about 50 kilometres from the state capital, Maiduguri, including crushing a crowd of Boko Haram fighters who came on a vengeance mission last Wednesday, September 17.

•Photo shows Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau.