How we killed second Shekau

• DHQ on Boko Haram leader’s final end as 133 terrorists surrender

After some days of speculation and arguments over who actu­ally killed the leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, the military High Command has at last explained how the terror kingpin died.

A statement issued yesterday by the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) in Abuja laid to rest the doubt on whether Shekau was actually killed by Nigerian troops or not. This is even as 133 terrorists yesterday evening surrendered along with equipment to troops around Biu Local Government Area of Adamawa State.  Eighty-eight insurgents laid down their weapons at Mairiga/Bun – Yadi while another 45 were taken in around Mubi – Michika.  They are all being interrogated in conformity with the dictates of standard best practices, the statement noted.

The military explained that the person they killed whose real name is Moham­med Bashir, had adopted the propaganda of Shekau after the first Shekau had been shot dead. There is propaganda in the prosecu­tion of Boko Haram assault on Nigeria and therefore, they would never admit that their leader or arrowhead had been killed. Whenever one leader is down, they raise another bearing the same identity to create the impression that they are not losing the fight.”

The statement said, “the Nigerian troops have been conducting coordinated air and land operations in furtherance of efforts at containing the terrorists in the North-East part of the country.  Somehow, it became apparent that the terrorists in continuation of their campaign of terror were deter­mined to take over communities around Maiduguri which is their prime target.

“There was therefore, the need to ensure that communities such as Konduga were protected. It is noteworthy that the ter­rorists made not less than four attempts between September 12 and 17, 2014 to violate the security and enter Konduga to perpetrate their atrocities.  Air and land forces were subsequently deployed to handle the situation.”

According to the DHQ, the convoy of combat vehicles typical of terrorists’ mis­sion that involved their top commanders were fiercely engaged by the land and air forces.  Several of the terrorists including some of their commanders lost their lives in the encounters which lasted an aver­age of about five hours each.  The troops captured some of the terrorists and their equipment.

“In the course of those encounters, one Mohammed Bashir, who had been acting or posing on videos as the deceased Abuba­kar Shekau, the eccentric character known as leader of the group, died. Since the name Shekau has become a brand name for the terrorists’ leader, the Nigerian military remains resolute to serve justice to anyone who assumes that designation or title as well as all terrorists that seek to violate the freedom and territory of Nigeria,” it said.

On restoring normalcy after the encoun­ter, residents of the community who were victims of terrorism corroborated informa­tion on the identity of Mohammed Bashir (aka Abubakar Shekau), alias Abacha Abdullahi Geidam, alias Damasack etc.  Indeed, the recent devastation on the lead­ership of the insurgents is attributable to the renewed commitment to the mission of eradicating terrorism in the country.


THE SUN