Hundreds of members of the group Boko Haram have surrendered, a Nigerian military spokesman said Wednesday in Abuja. The captures came after clashes with Boko Haram in northern Nigeria and neighbouring Cameroon, Major General Chris Olukolade said.

He said that military forces had killed a reported lookalike for Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau in the Borno state city of Konduga, 40 kilometres from the group’s stronghold in Maiduguri. The doppelganger, named Mohammed Bashir, had portrayed Shekau in videos, Olukolade said.

Shekau’s death has been reported several times, most recently in media accounts that he was killed Sunday in a Cameroonian military operation. The claim has not been independently verified, and Shekau’s whereabouts are unknown.

Boko Haram kidnapped more than 200 mostly Christian schoolgirls on April 14, and for years has waged a campaign of abductions, suicide bombings and massacres. SAPA