( CNN ) -- The Nigerian military said Thursday it killed one of the leaders of the Islamist extremist group , Boko Haram , which has waged an insurgency in the nation for years . Mamadu Bama was the second-in-command , the military said in a statement . He was killed this month along with his father , who was the group 's spiritual mentor , the military said . The militant group has not released any statement on the deaths . Boko Haram has attacked various targets in the nation since 2009 , murdering and kidnapping Westerners , and bombing schools and churches . It is suspected to be behind a gruesome mosque killing this week . In that attack Sunday , militants brandishing automatic weapons killed 44 worshipers in the country 's troubled Borno state . Around the time of the attack , the group released a video boasting that it was growing stronger . Boko Haram translates loosely to `` western education is forbidden/sinful . '' It holds all government authority in contempt and wants to establish a state in northern Nigeria under Islamic law . Human rights groups have accused the Nigerian military of extrajudicial killings in its fight against the militant group . `` Soldiers have allegedly burned homes and executed Boko Haram suspects or residents with no apparent links to the group , '' Human Rights Watch said in a report this year . `` Nigerian authorities have rarely brought anyone to justice for these crimes . ''
Boko Haram has attacked various targets in the nation since 2009 . Mamadu Bama is second-in-command of the Islamist extremist group , army says . The Nigerian military said it had killed more than 200 militants and arrested about 100 others during a raid on an Islamic State hideout near Maiduguri, capital city of Borno state.