A fugitive is a person who is fleeing from custody, whether it be from jail, a government arrest, government or non-government questioning, vigilante violence, or outraged private individuals. Africa has had its fair share of fugitives. Below are top 3 most wanted African fugitives.

Abubakar Shekau

This name is definitely a household name to all Nigerians. Shekau is the leader of the terrorist group Boko Haram Nigerian militant group that has declared loyalty to the Islamist militant group popularly called ISIS.  He served as deputy leader to the group’s founder, Mohammed Yusuf, until Yusuf was executed in 2009. In June 2012, the United States Department of State identified Shekau as a terrorist and placed a $7 million bounty for information leading to his capture through its Reward justice program, the Nigerian army also offered  $300,000 for information leading to the arrest of Shekau.  Abubakar Shekau is yet to be captured, he also took credit for the kidnap of over 200 girls at Chibok, Nigeria.

Joseph Kony

Joseph Rao Kony is the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a guerrilla group that formerly operated in Uganda. He is a child kidnapper, warlord and funnily a prophet. To think that someone who is capable of perpetrating such evil considers himself a prophet is laughable. He is indeed a psychopath. Kony proclaims himself the spokesperson of God, he claims he to have been visited by a multinational host of 13 spirits, including a Chinese phantom. His goal is to rule Uganda according to the 10 commandments in the biblical old testament (Exodus). In 2015, the Guardian reported that Kony’s forces were responsible for the deaths of over 100,000 people and the kidnapping of at least 60,000 children. The International Criminal Court announced his arrests warrant in 2005 for his crime against humanity.

Samantha Lewthwaite

Most times when we talk about terrorist, we seldom bring women into the picture. Here is a female terrorist for those that have never heard of one. Although Samantha is not African(she is of British descent), most of her terrorist act has been perpetrated on African soil. Samantha Lewthwaite is one of the most wanted fugitives in the world. She’s allegedly a member of the Somali-based radical Islamic militant group Al-Shabaab and is believed to be the mastermind behind a number of grenade attacks on non-Muslim places of worship. She is also known for training female jihadist.