Is Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau dead this time? The Nigerian military is investigating.

DAKAR, Senegal — The Nigerian military is investigating claims that Abubakar Shekau, the Boko Haram leader who orchestrated mass kidnappings of schoolchildren during his decade-long war against Western influence, has died in northeast Nigeria.

“We are looking into it carefully,” Nigerian Army spokesman Mohammed Yerima said. “In the past, we have reported that he is dead and then he comes back. It has been embarrassing.”