There have been conflicting reports on the death of a high ranking Boko Haram commander after an encounter with the Nigerian army.

The Defence Headquarters announced on Wednesday in Abuja that Momodu Bama, the second-in-command to the leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, had been killed.
A statement by the Defence Headquarters made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said that Bama's death had also been corroborated by other terrorists captured by troops.
It said that Bama was killed, following an encounter between troops and terrorists around the Bama corridor, near Maiduguri in Borno.
According to the statement, the troops have continued to intensify pursuit of terrorists who have been unleashing mayhem in Borno and Yobe.
It said that Bama had been personally leading attacks against troops and innocent citizens in communities in Yobe and Adamawa.
"A specialist in manning the anti-aircraft guns of the group, he is known to be vicious and heartless with a penchant for personally slaughtering and executing his victims.
"Bama has been a most wanted terrorist with a N25 million bounty already placed on his head."
The statement named other people who died in the operation as Bama’s father, Alhaji Abatcha Flatari, "who is also one of the spiritual guiding lights of the out-lawed terrorists group".
It added that 17 other terrorists also lost their lives in the encounter, while 24 were captured.
The statement said that troops were continuing the pursuit of the terrorists, while intensifying aggressive aerial and land patrols to ensure better security cover for communities in the two states.
It had previously been reported that Muhammed Bama and Abubakar Zakariya Yau had been killed in Adamawa after a shoot out between suspected Boko Haram members and the army in Adamawa.

At least 464 people were killed in nationwide violence sparked by a crackdown on the protest camps of supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, government officials said on Thursday.

At least 421 civilians died in Wednesday's violence, ministry spokesman Mohammed Fathallah said.
He said 137 people had been killed in the main Rabaa al-Adawiya camp which pro-Morsi protesters had occupied for weeks.
At the smaller of the two encampments in Nahda square, 57 people were killed and 227 died in the rest of the country, he said.
The interior ministry said 43 policemen had also been killed.

A leakage in a gas field operated by Chevron in the Atlantic Ocean off Bayelsa coastline has led to the discharge of crude oil and gas into the environment, community sources claim.

The sources said that the incident occurred at Funiwa Deep 1A natural gas well location in the Funiwa field, operated by Chevron Nigeria Ltd.
Mr Adeyinka Adewumi, the Head of National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) in Port Harcourt Zone, confirmed the development to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Yenagoa on Thursday.
''Chevron reported a leak in their facility this morning which opened the investigations into the incident. By the time our officers deployed to the site come back, there will be more information,'' he said.
Adewumi said that NOSDRA had commenced an investigation into the incident in collaboration with Chevron and members of the host communities.
He explained that the agency was awaiting a joint investigation visit to the site of the incident with representatives of Bayelsa Ministry of Environment, Chevron, host communities and Department of Petroleum Resources.
However, residents of Koluama 1 and Koluama 2 communities in Bayelsa have expressed concern about the negative impact of the incident on marine life and fishing.
Mr Larry Gabriel, a fisherman from Fishtown community in Brass Local Government Area, said the incident occurred five kilometres from the site of the January, 2012 gas explosion site within Chevron’s field in the Atlantic.
Gabriel said that oil workers had been making fruitless efforts to seal the leak.
''Although we cannot say when exactly this thing started, we have noticed unusual movement of heavy equipment they are using to block the leakage but so far oil and gas are still being discharged into the environment,’’ he said.
An official of Chevron, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told NAN on telephone that the oil firm would issue a statement on the incident soon.

The Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has said that the Federal Government will recover over N232 billion ($1,5 billion dollars) overpayments made to "fraudulent'' oil marketers.

Okonjo-Iweala, who is also the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, made the plan known at the National Council of Finance and Economic Development (NACOFED) in Minna on Thursday.
She said that in 2006, the total petroleum subsidies paid to oil marketing firms amounted to N256 billion (about $1,6 billion) and by 2011 the bill for petroleum subsidy payments had risen sharply to nearly N2,1 trillion ($13 billion).
"Even more striking was the increase in the number of oil marketing firms. While most countries have a few well-organised fuel importers, Nigeria had a total of 143 such firms since 2011.
"The certification process to verify the actual delivery of imported fuel was also very lax, resulting in widespread fraud in the operation of the scheme,’’ she said.
The minister said there were cases where some firms submitted payment invoices for fuel deliveries in Nigeria when their stated cargo ships were actually berthed elsewhere in South America on the same dates,
She said that the subsidised prices for domestic gasoline in Nigeria also created arbitrage opportunities and resulted in widespread smuggling of fuel products to Nigeria's neighbouring countries.
To this effect, she said, Nigeria embarked on a comprehensive reform of the downstream petroleum sector by appointing the AIG Imoukhede-led Committee, who discovered lapses in the payment processes.
"Following the discoveries, the Federal Government put in place a number of remedial measures to combat fraud in the subsidy scheme.
"First, a tighter payment regime was introduced with new auditors and stricter guidelines for disbursement of subsidy payments. The increased scrutiny has slowed down the payment process somewhat but also greatly reduced the likelihood of fraudulent payments.
"Second, we published the names of fraudulent oil marketing companies in the national press and are in the process of prosecuting these fraudulent marketers  to reclaim the stolen funds," she said.
To prevent further more fraudulent payment claims, she said the government was introducing three electronic payment systems and oversight platforms.
"The new Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information Systems will allow direct payment of government workers based on biometrics data. This has so far saved government over N119 billion through the elimination of ghost workers.
"Also a Government Integrated Financial Management Information System electronically links the treasury to other government departments and enables faster and more transparent movement of funds," she explained.
Okonjo-Iweala said that all these were the government’s way to provide checks and balances in the prudent management of public funds.