The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Shekau

  • I chased Shekau, Qaqa out, Niger would have been Boko Haram HQ – Ex-gov Aliyu

    I chased Shekau, Qaqa out, Niger would have been Boko Haram HQ – Ex-gov Aliyu

    Former Niger State governor, Babangida Aliyu, has explained how he chased the dreaded Boko Haram leaders, Abubakar Shekau and Abu Qaqa out of the state during his first term as governor, saying that the state would have been the headquarters of Boko Haram.

    He, however, said that part of the solution to the security challenges bedeviling Nigeria, like terrorism and banditry is proper planning and budgeting that will eradicate the negative statistics of 20 million out-of-school children and change the story of Nigeria from being rated as the global poverty capital.

    Aliyu stated this in Kaduna at the weekend while speaking as the guest speaker at the 2023 annual public lecture, awards, and election of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Kaduna branch.

    He said: “The primary purpose of government is the security of lives and property of the citizens, which SK e Governors don’t take seriously. As Chief Security Officer of your state, you cannot claim the inability to secure your citizens. Yes, the officers of the security agencies might not have come from your state, they are federal officers posted to assist you in your state.

    Read Also; CoP28: FG didn’t sponsor 1,411 delegates to Dubai — Presidency

    “Being proactive as a leader and follower also helped so much. When I arrived Niger state, I found a security challenge in the form of nine people who went to a village in Mokwa local government, who had multiplied in 2007 to 7,000 people and were involved in armed robbery and abducting women in the area. They constituted themselves into a republic.

    “I also discovered that many Governors have tried to do something but were probably frustrated by Abuja. Two immigration officers sent to investigate the activities of the group became members. When I took a census, I discovered that more than 60% of the members were not Nigerians. The original Shekau and Abu Qaga were the leaders. I got the support of the Late President Musa Yar’adua to disperse them after compensating them and providing them transport to their destination in Nigeria and the foreigners were taken to their borders.

    “That action probably saved Niger State from being the foundation of Boko Haram as we come to know, they were regularly visiting the River Niger Bridge. That the federal government would support any Governor who has done his homework is not I doubt.”

    Preferring a solution, the former governor highlighted the importance of proper planning and budgeting, saying: “Our planning must be people-centered and our budget must be treated as the law that it is.

    “If the planning is proper, we cannot be talking of 20 million children out of school, we cannot be described as the poverty capital of the world. We also cannot be facing the insecurity of banditry, Boko Haram, and armed robbery.

    “With proper planning, we cannot have the level of corruption we have today. Many times, we boast of our abundant human capital, natural resources, and rich cultural heritage, unless we operationalize, we shall remain at this level of boasting. Operationalizing them shall allow us to invest in education, especially girl-child education, to prioritize investment in healthcare infrastructure.

    “We also need to go back to the basics of enhancing craft and vocational education, while promoting entrepreneurship right from secondary school. The need for a review of our curriculum from elementary to tertiary education cannot be over-emphasized because we have to be in tandem with what we need now and in the future.”

    Earlier at the event, the Kaduna state chapter chairman of NIPR, Haroun Malami spoke to the theme of the lecture; ‘Demographic Transition, Ethical Resource, Sustainable Development: Reflections on Northern Nigeria’.

    He said the study has shown Nigeria’s population increased from 186.1 million to 201.1 million between 2016 and 2019, indicating an increase of 8% by an additional 15.9 million new populations in four years, with the northern region accounting for 68.67% of the new population.

    He said: “What this means is that for every 10 new children born in Nigeria between 2016 and 2019, seven were from northern states.”

    Malami however said that the country must take ownership of the narrative to create a strong, future-proof society for its youthful population, adding that, “Central to sustainable development is efficient and effective resource management which encapsulates economic, social, and environmental components and requires society to pursue a growth path that generates an optimal flow of income built on the twin principles of justice and equity.”

  • Buratai to troops: get Shekau dead or alive

    Buratai to troops: get Shekau dead or alive

    Chief of Army Staff Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai has restated his order to troops to capture Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau doed or alive.

    Gen. Buratai spoke at Camp Zairo, the former command and control centre of the terrorists in the Sambisa forest during an operational visit to troops.

    In 2017, the army chief gave troops a 40-day ultimatum to capture Shekau. The army last week offered a N3 million reward for information on the terrorist.

    Troops destroyed the camp in January in an operation tagged “Deep Punch II’’ and are now dominating the general area of the forest.

    The military sacked Shekau from the camp in December, 2016 but the terrorists have been launching pockets of attacks.

    Other locations visited by Gen. Buratai are Bita and Tukumbere, all settlements within the forest but almost deserted due to the insurgency.

    “Let me say congratulations. But, we must move across to wherever this criminal, Shekau is and catch him red handed. I want you to get him.

    “Mr President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces says ‘congratulations’ to all of you for recovering the Sambisa Forest.

    “As far as we are concerned, we have come to the end of this operation (clearing the forest of remnants of terrorists).

    “What is remaining now is the Lake Chad waters only and we hope to do that (clear terrorists from it) also very soon.

    “You all know these criminals are still on the run; these guys are on the run, you must make sure that you get them wherever they are around this area.

    “You must not allow them to escape. Everyday, you must go on patrol, lay ambush for them and you go on raids.

    “This is the time we have to consolidate and ensure that this place – Sambisa forest – is safe and never for these criminals to come back to it,’’ Gen. Buratai told the troops.

    The Chief of Army Staff said that he was in Sambisa and Camp Zairo to confirm their capture, destruction and domination by the gallant troops.

    “We are going to transform this place, apart from making it a training area.

    “We are going to have a modern defence establishment in terms of the provision of basic requirements for your comfort and indeed for your operations.

    “We are already making sure that the first set of facilities are brought here,’’ the army chief said.

    Gen. Buratai promised the troops a special package to boost their morale.

    “We are going to have some special packages for all of you that penetrated this forest.

    “We will make sure that your morale is high by making the necessary provision for you to be comfortable,’’ he added.

    On rotation of troops, the army chief said that plans were on to rotate those who had stayed long in the theatre of operation.

    “This is in our plan. I know that some of you were inducted here right from the depot but we are doing something for you to be properly deployed and properly accommodated as well.’’

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that 3,000 troops would be inducted into the Operation Lafiya Dole this week, to replace those who had stayed long.

    Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole,, Maj.-Gen. Rogers Nicholas, said with the capture of camp Zairo “the soul and mind of Boko Haram have been broken in Sambisa forest”.

    “They don’t have a place to hide. We are still going round to make sure that some of them that are hiding in holes, we intend to fish them out,’’ Nicholas said.

    He said that on assumption of duty in 2017, the chief of army staff tasked him to capture Camp Zairo and clear Boko Haram from the Sambisa forest.

    “Troops have finally cleared the forest of remnants and we are presently occupying camp Zairo as well as all the little settlements and camps within the forest.’’

    Staff Sgt. Dauda Mohammed, one of the troops who participated in the operations that finally destroyed Camp Zairo and clear the forest of remnants of terrorists, attributed their success to the Almighty God.

  • Army places N3m bounty on Shekau

    Army places N3m bounty on Shekau

    The Army yesterday placed a N3 million bounty on Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau.

    Army spokesman Brig-Gen. Sani Usman said in a statement in Abuja that anybody with credible information on Shekau should contact the military command and Control Centre of Operation Lafiya Dole or the Nigerian Army Call Centre number 193.

    The statement said: “The Nigerian Army will give out Three Million Naira (N3,000,000.00k) cash reward for any credible information that leads to the arrest of Abubakar Shekau, the fugitive factional Boko Haram terrorists’ group leader.

    “Anybody with such credible information can either contact the military command and Control Centre, Operation LAFIYA DOLE, any military location, security agencies  or call the Nigerian Army Information and Call Centre 193”.

  • Tom, Jerry and Shekau

    Dear reader, who on earth does not know Tom and Jerry, T&J? The animated cartoon series that centres around Tom, the house cat defending his territory and Jerry, the irritant mouse.  This effervescent animation was first created about 77 years ago in the US and has remained fresh across generations of television viewers across the globe.

    Come off it, you must have seen this stuff sometime if you reside on this planet!

    As you may well know, it is always about Tom’s visceral outbursts in attempts to capture the annoyingly irrepressible Jerry. The plucky mouse would go to any length to provoke the burly homeowner who always in a fit of rage, seek to annihilate the rascal and obliterate him even.

    Of course, sometimes, their kerfuffles would lead to total overturn or even razing of the house.

    The news on Christmas Day that Boko Haram (BH) leader, Abubakar Shekau is now crippled and on wheelchair immediately reminded Hardball of this epic cartoon.

    It is reported that a former BH Chief Intelligence Officer, Abdulkadir Abubakar, who was said to have been captured last June, confirmed that Shekau is crippled.

    The pursuit of Shekau who took over from sect’s founder, Mohammed Yusuf has been not unlike a cat and mouse fight or Tom and Jerry if you prefer.

    But while T&J is a hilarious slapstick animation series, BH and Shekau have turned out to a mirthless , blood-thirsty gang that has unleashed terror and mayhem on Nigeria these past eight years. Not even the Nigeria-Biafra civil war seared the soul of the nation and tested the Nigerian military so much.

    In like manner that Tom would chase Jerry into fire and hailstones and flatten him even, believing that he had extirpated him; the same way the Nigerian military has pursued Shekau to the ends of Sambisa ; sometimes announcing his obituary. But Shekau may have become our sardonic Tom.

    He was reportedly shot and injured in 2009; said to have been kill during a raid of his Sambisa forest camp in 2013. In September 2014, it was reported that the Camerounian military had killed Shekau.

    He supposedly released a video in October of same year mocking the allegation that he had been killed. In August 2015, Chadian President asserted that BH had been decapitated and Shekau replaced. Yet another Shekau video followed, debunking.

    August 2016, the Nigerian Air Force announced that Shekau was fatally wounded in air raids. But one month after, yet another video was released showing a ‘Shekau’ alive and well.

    And this current news about Shekau being wheelchair bound. But most remarkably, coming from a former chief spook of BH…

    and Hardball asks: who is Nigeria military’s Chief Intelligence Officer? We dare say that this war is not about air-raids lest bomb the whole house chasing a rat!

  • The deaths around Boko Haram’s Shekau

    The deaths around Boko Haram’s Shekau

    Fresh from killing off — apparently metaphorically — the Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, the Nigerian military has in frustration leapt on his wife and has begun to also kill her off, probably also metaphorically. It was never understood why the military would not wait for battlefield confirmation before claiming to have killed Mallam Shekau in the many times they believed he had died from battle wounds, now the public is set to be even more perplexed why the military would rush to the media to claim the possible killing of Hajiya Shekau before confirming the gory fact.

    Even if she were dead, it is hard to see of what tactical value that would be to the military and the country. Killing Mallam Shekau would not guarantee the end of the rebellion in the Northeast; killing his probably non-combatant wife means nothing to the rebellion nor to anybody, including the Boko Haram leader whose warped sense of martyrdom can only be grasped by similarly demented fellows like himself. Announcing her death, even if it were true, is totally needless. They must hope that Mallam Shekau, who probably has a harem anyway, and who is destitute of all human feelings, does not come out to refute their story of Hajiya Shekau’s death. For should the military’s story be also debunked, no one will ever believe their body counts again, let alone their constant harangue about Boko Haram’s decimation and degradation.

  • Shekau, dead or alive?

    Shekau, dead or alive?

    One of the major puzzles in the Boko Haram’s saga is the true state and identity of the sect’s leader, Abubakar Shekau.

    Shekau, who hails from Yobe State, took over the leadership of the terrorist group after its founder, Mohammed Yusuf, was killed in 2009.

    On many occasions, the Nigerian forces have made claims of either killing him or leaving him ‘fatally wounded’ after ‘successful’ operations. Months or weeks after such claims, the terrorist usually re-emerges, sometimes in a video to prove he had not been killed, thus creating fears that some reports of alleged successes in the prosecution of the war against Boko Haram may not be the actual picture in the field.

    It will for instance be recalled that the military had on Tuesday, August 23, 2016 said it carried out a ‘successful’ air raid in Sambisa Forest which left Shekau “fatally wounded”.

    The Acting Director of Army Public Relations, Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman, made the claim in a statement where he said the operation took place as the terrorists were performing Friday rituals at Taye Village, Gombale general area, within Sambisa forest, Borno State.

    The statement reads: “In what one could describe as the most unprecedented and spectacular air raid, we have just confirmed that as a result of the interdiction efforts of the Nigerian Air Force, some key leaders of the Boko Haram terrorists have been killed, while others were fatally wounded.

    “The air interdiction took place last week Friday 19th August, 2016, while the terrorists were performing Friday rituals at Taye village, Gombale general area within Sambisa forest, Borno State.“Those Boko Haram terrorist commanders confirmed dead include: AbubakarMubi, Malam Nuhu and Malam Hamman, among others, while their leader, the so-called ‘AbubakarShekau’, is believed to be fatally wounded on his shoulders. Several other terrorists were also wounded”, Usman said.

    Ironically, it did not take long before Shekau resurfaced; a development that attracted critical reactions against the military from skeptical Nigerians.

    Concerned Nigerians recalled that the Army had in 2013, three years earlier, made official claim that it had killed the same Shekau. A year later, precisely in September 2014, the Army again said “Shekau” had been killed, explaining however that the man that was killed in 2014 was ‘a Shekau impostor,’ who they said bore names like “Isa Damsaka, Bashir Konduga and Bashir Mohammed.”

    In fact, media reports show that if Shekau is a single individual, he may have been killed long ago. It would be recalled that at a time, intelligence sources said the real Shekau had been killed between 2013 and 2014 but that the insurgents may have adopted that name as the title of their leader. Dr. Ephraim Ukeje, a security analyst, told The Nation that “this may explain why the same Shekau keeps resurrecting each time he is killed by the army. The truth is that the military may have actually killed the original Shekau, but the terrorists seem to believe they need to keep him alive to sustain their struggle.”

    According to him, “this game about the indestructibility of Shekau dates back to 2009 when the Nigerian security forces said Shekau was one of the over 1000 members of Boko Haram that were killed alongside Yusuf, the founder of the dreaded group. Barely a year after, in July 2010, Shekau appeared in a video and claimed leadership of the group.

    Since then, the Army had made similar claims of killing the terrorist leader: They made it in 2011 and on August 18, 2013, when the Nigerian Army, quoting “intelligence report” said Shekau may have died between July 25 and August, 2013. But after each of these claims, another Shekau will appear to further confuse the situation.

    But on September 24, 2014, the military issued what was described as an official ratification of reports that Shekau had been killed by security forces. It said the Boko Haram leader was actually killed in the Battle of Konduga which took place between September 12 and 14. Many informed observers believed that report, especially as the Cameroonian Military corroborated the Nigerian Army’s claim that “the original Shekau was killed by soldiers more than a year ago in confrontation, but that his character had been assumed by another leader of the deadly group.”

    The Defence spokesperson then, Chris Olukolade, put it this way: “The impersonator is the man who appeared in several Boko Haram propaganda videos, claiming he is Shekau,” “It was that new face of Shekau that was killed in a fierce clash with the military last week in Konduga, near Maiduguri, Borno State.”

    Dr. Ukeje explains to The Nation on Thursday that there is no more confusion over the personality called Shekau as we all know that it must be one of the claimants to that title that the Nigerian forces reportedly wounded in the recent air raid.

    The security expert therefore explained that “since the re-appearance of another Shekau on October 2, 2016, declaring in a 36-minute video obtained by AFP that: ‘Here I am, alive. I will only die the day Allah takes my breath,’ it has become clear that until Boko harm is finally conquered, there will always be a Shekau.” How long it will take has continued to remain a puzzle both to ordinary observers and security forces.

  • Boko Haram: 37- year old cleric vows to trek from Abuja to Maiduguri if Shekau is captured ‎

    ‎A 37-year-old Islamic cleric, Ali Ahmad has vowed to embark on ‘foot journey’ from Abuja to Maiduguri, the Borno State capital should the wanted Boko Haram terrorist, Abubakar Shekau is captured.

    Ahmad said he would take it upon himself to trek the 844 kilometer journey to celebrate the Nigerian troops if they succeeded in bringing the ‘heartless’ insurgent down.

    Checks by this reporter showed that the distance between Abuja and Maiduguri is measured 844.71 kilometers, approximately 70 miles per hour.

    His promise is coming on the heels of the recent order by the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai to troops fighting Boko Haram in the Northeast to arrest Shekau within 40 days, either dead or alive.

    Ahmad made this revelation while speaking during a prayer organised yesterday by some religious bodies to render Boko Haram spiritual base useless on Wednesday.

    The groups said they would be embarking on a 40-day prayer and fasting to God to end the reign on insurgency in Nigeria.

    Speaking at the Unity Fountain on Wednesday, Ahmad, who claimed to be a native of Gudumbali village in Guzamala LGA of Borno State, said he lost one of his wives and two children to an attack carried out by the Boko Haram insurgents on Monday Market in Maduguri in January 2015.

    Ahmad said he decided to relocate from Borno after the deadly attack.

    Speaking in Hausa, the emotion-laden man said he has not been able to get back on his feet since the attack, which destroyed his shop and goods worth millions of naira.

    “I was doing fine with my family in Maiduguri until January 2015 when the Boko Haram members attacked the Monday Market and killed several people.

    “I was in Kano that day to buy goods when I got a call from my house that my wife, Zaina and two sons have been killed by bomb blast. I lost everything I had and I had no choice than to move my remaining family to my village in Gudumbali. From there I moved to Abuja,” he said.

    The father of three, who attributed the cause of his misfortunes to the activities of Shekau and his men, said he would be the joyous person if the extremist is eventually captured.

    “I am ready to trek from Lagos to Maiduguri if he is arrested. I don’t mind my age and strength. Shekau is an evil man and deserves to die. He will not go unpunished,” Ahmad added.

    Ahmad, while acknowledging the efforts of the military in restoring peace back to the volatile community, said the battle is now between God and evil and that’s why the prayer for the soldiers is very important.

    He said, “Our military deserves all the support and encouragement from spiritual and political leadership of the country to totally wipe away their tears in the north eastern part  of the country. It will be everyone’s joy to see Shekau in chains.”

  • You have 40 days to capture Shekau, Buratai orders troops

    You have 40 days to capture Shekau, Buratai orders troops

    The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, has directed the Theatre Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole, Maiduguri, Maj.-Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, to capture Abubakar Shekau, self-styled leader of the Boko Haram sect, “dead or alive”.

    And Attahiru has 40 days to accomplish the task.

    Buratai issued the order at the weekend, according to the Director, Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Sani Usman.

    He quoted the Chief of Army Staff as directing Attahiru to “employ all arsenals at the disposal of the Theatre Command to smoke out Shekau wherever he is hiding in Nigeria.

    “The general public is please requested to also assist and volunteer information that would lead to the accomplishment of this task,” Usman said.

    Shekau assumed leadership of Boko Haram following the death, in 2009, of the founder of the sect, Mohammed Yusuf.

    He had been reported killed several times in the past only for him to appear in recorded video messages debunking such reports.

    On August 23, 2016, Sani himself had issued a statement saying Shekau was inflicted with “fatal injury” in a major air strike on Boko Haram’s location in Sambisa Forest.

    The bombardment was said to have been carried out while Shekau was leading his group in performing the Friday prayers at a secret location called Tayye in the heart of the vast forest.

    On March 28 this year, Defence Minister Mansur Dan-Ali, emerging from a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja, assured Nigerians that the army would soon apprehend Shekau.

    He said: “If you have had the opportunity to go to Sambisa (forest in Borno), you will know that Boko Haram has been defeated, go and see what is happening in Sambisa.

    “We have dominated the whole stronghold where they used to be, there is where we call ‘camp zairo’ where their spiritual and their strong headquarters that they were using as communication base was destroyed and as at the same time occupied by our men of the armed forces.

    “So, I believe it’s just a matter of time, it took America about seven to 10 years to get Bin Laden so we will get Shekau as soon as possible.

    “I told you before now, the spiritual headquarters has been ransacked and vandalized. He (Shekau) is on the run, so he may be hiding in one of the enclaves of Sambisa forest that we are dominating.

    “We have opened up the place; we are using it as a training area whereby the army engineers will open roads. We shall be patrolling and be ransacking that forest for the whereabouts of Shekau,’’ he said.

  • Shekau is alive, and its official

    Shekau is alive, and its official

    BOKO Haram’s Abubakar Shekau has been killed in battle and revived so many times on newspaper pages that it is finally a relief that the federal government has acknowledged he is alive and well. Now, it is hoped, no one will ever again speculate whether he is mortally wounded in battle or not, or dead or alive. Until he is dead and his followers can confirm it, or DNA evidence is secured, there will be no more speculations from official quarters. It is doubtful whether any Nigerian, except some hardened Boko Haram insurgents, will rejoice that Mallam Shekau is alive. So, it is not a case of gloating over his escapades or his ability to wrong-foot the military. They just want the truth.
    However, long-standing public scepticism about the military’s hasty and unverified announcements of his death in the past years had been anchored on two legs. One is that whether he was dead or alive, the public didn’t really see how that weakened the resolve of the terror group, for Boko Haram had effortlessly mastered the art of replacing its leaders, sometimes with more vicious successors. And two is the fact that Nigerians recognised that Boko Haram had become an ideology, far transcending both its caliphate ambitions and identity, and purpose as a fighting force. So news about its leader’s death or even stories about the group being degraded or decimated were bound to be met with cynicism.
    Under the presidencies of Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari, military officers had addressed the press and claimed to have killed Mallam Shekau either in elaborate ambush or in direct confrontation. When the press asked for proof, the officers bristled. They pointed to a mark on his forehead and said some general things about his height and built. When the press remained sceptical, the military wondered whether patriotism had not become a scarce commodity among newsmen. There was even talk of enacting laws that should circumscribe reporting of the anti-terror war, considering how sometimes bellicose and unfriendly the press had become in reporting the counterinsurgency operations in the Northeast. Wiser counsel eventually prevailed.
    In openly and unprecedentedly acknowledging Mallam Shekau’s survivalist prowess, the Defence minister, Brig.-Gen. (retd.) Mansur Dan-Ali declared last week: “These insurgents have a way of putting on masks. There could be so many but we are looking for the real one. They have been using masks to portray Shekau in one incident or the other to give an impression that he has been killed so that we will relax. But we will not relax, we are on him.” Knowing that he needed to provide justification for the terrorist leader’s elusiveness and give hope of his capture or death some day, the Defence minister added: “I believe it is just a matter of time. It took America about seven to 10 years to get Bin Laden. So, we will get Shekau as soon as possible. The sect’s spiritual headquarters has been ransacked and vandalised. He (Shekau) is on the run. He may be hiding in one of the enclaves of the Sambisa Forest which we are dominating. We have opened up the place. We are using the place as a training area. The Army engineers will open up roads and we shall be patrolling and be ransacking that forest for the whereabouts of Shekau.”
    One of the remarkable things that agitated the public about Mallam Shekau’s rumoured death years ago was that every time military officers reported his death — never his capture — foreign intelligence organisations duly warned that such stories were exaggerated. One mistake was bad enough; two or three more, each asserting vociferously the killing of the elusive Boko Haram pimpernel, were egregious in the extreme. But like the improving counterinsurgency operation itself, the military has become more refined in both its propaganda and compliance with the laws of war. They must be commended for these improvements as well as their confession about Mallam Shekau’s prodigious survival tactics. The military has wisely recognised that whether he survives or not, the process of degrading the terror sect must proceed apace. But whether they also know that Boko Haram remains an ideology, no matter how inchoate, that cannot be extirpated by force of arms is another thing.
    More importantly, it will be helpful if the military return to their war college to study the fundamentals of that war, how military and police tactics fuelled the rebellion, the rebellion’s economic and social underpinnings, tactical and strategic blunders that prolonged it, and the lessons learnt. If they have not already done so, it may be time for the military to put together a study, following the Boko Haram war, to advise the government on the unsustainable deployment of military men in more than two-thirds of the country to carry out police duties. The shambolic manner the military initially and disgracefully fought the Boko Haram war was doubtless a product of many enervating years of decay and stasis occasioned by political and extraneous interventions which destroyed the military’s image and sapped it of its vitality, purpose and vision.

  • Why we are yet to capture Shekau —DHQ

    Why we are yet to capture Shekau —DHQ

    •Gives reason for mix-up in purported death of Boko Haram leader 

    The Nigerian military yesterday gave reasons why the elusive Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, has not been captured in spite of serious manhunt and the capture of Camp Zairo in the Sambisa Forest.

    The Director Defence Information (DDI), Major-Gen. John Eneche, who spoke at a press forum in Abuja, admitted that there was a mix-up regarding information about the capture or death of the Boko Haram leader because of the various faces Shekau uses.

    The Defence spokesman also said even though the “real Shekau” has not been captured, the military is on the hunt for him and would soon capture him.

    Eneche said: “There were so many Shekau faces. That was what was responsible for that. But we will get the real thing.

    “We have now come to know that the real Shekau is yet to be apprehended. So, that is the truth.

    “When Osama Bin Ladin was killed, they went further to do a DNA test. That was what happened.

    “The truth is because of so many faces of Shekau that came up, that was what brought about the mix up. But it is true the real Shekau is yet to be apprehended, and we will get him.”

    Eneche also gave an account of military operations in Nigeria, saying that the Nigerian Armed Forces have done well.

    “The Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) has been able to decimate and degrade the Boko Haram terrorists (BHT) from their terrogensic activity to splinter acts of terrorism here and there, mostly within Borno State.

    “Currently, clearance operation is ongoing jointly by the AFN to eliminate both active and passive acts of terrorism in the NE.

    “It is worthy of note that some countries such as Britain, USA and France, among others, provided one form of assistance to the military in our effort so far in the North East,” he said.

    General Eneche also said Operation Sharan Daji in the North-West has been able to curtail the activities of cattle rustlers with many of them embracing the amnesty offered by the government of Zamfara State.

    He said: “Currently, the activities of the criminals have been checkmated tremendously.

    “It is highly desirable to point out here, that a good number of criminals that were engaged in these activities embraced the amnesty offer by the Zamfara State Government.

    “It is expected that other states in the North-West will emulate Zamfara State, so that this wickedness of criminality is eradicated from the zone in particular and Nigeria in general.”

    He however dismissed the notion that the military is not doing anything to curtail the activities of herdsmen, saying it is a conflict “between brothers which will require a political solution.”

    Eneche said: “It is not the one that you have an identified enemy, the issue of Fulani herdsmen and locals, it is an issue an African would put as brothers that have misunderstanding.

    “It is an issue of two brothers. Even in our houses, children that follow almost immediately have this kind of argument, that is the issues of the herdsmen and the locals. At various fora, we have agreed that it needs more or less a political solution.”