Buratai orders troops to capture Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau within 40 days

Buratai orders troops to capture Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau within 40 days

- Nigerian army has ordered troops fighting against insurgents in the northeast to capture Abubakar Shekau, the leader of the Boko Haram terror group, dead or alive within 40 days

- Mr Attahiru, a major general, was directed to employ every weapon available in his arsenal to smoke out Shekau wherever he is hiding in Nigeria

- This order however shows that Shekau has not been captured since 2009 that the Boko Haram has been waging a war against the Nigerian

Troops are to be on the move since the Nigerian army has given them a forty day ultimatum to capture Abubakar Shekau, the leader of the Boko Haram terrorist group dead or alive.

Tukur Buratai, the chief of army staff, made this charge on Friday, July 21, to the Theatre Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole, Ibrahim Attahiru.

Premium Times reports that the statement was signed by Sani Usman, the spokesperson of the army.

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The statement read: ''The Boko Haram leader must be captured dead or alive within 40 days, the statement said, adding that Mr. Attahiru, a major general, was directed to employ every weapon available in his arsenal to smoke out Shekau wherever he is hiding in Nigeria.

“The general public is pleased requested to also assist and volunteer information that would lead to the accomplishment of this task.’’

Legit.ng gathered that military had however informed the members of the public in the past that it had put Shekau to death.

The endless bragging of Boko Haram leader in videos has taken many Nigerians by surprise because that negates the military claims.

It was learnt that on August 23, 2016, Mr Sani himself issued a statement saying that in the military effort to capture left Shekau “fatal injury”.

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.

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“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.''

Boko Haram has been waging a war against the Nigerian state since 2009, using its violent campaign to pursue the establishment of an Islamic caliphate in Nigeria’s northeast.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that Boko Haram terrorist, Abba Mustapha, was rescued by the troops of Operation Lafiya Dole, during an cross-fire exchange between the army and the terrorists.

Mustapha, who was injured and abandoned to his fate by his colleagues in the heat of heavy fire fight with Nigerian Army troops in one of the remote Forward Operating Bases in Ngala Local Government Area.

Watch this Legit.ng TV Video of a documentary on the survivors of Boko Haram:

Source: Legit.ng

Authors:
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Khadijah Thabit (Copyeditor) Khadijah Thabit is an editor with over 3 years of experience editing and managing contents such as articles, blogs, newsletters and social leads. She has a BA in English and Literary Studies from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Khadijah joined Legit.ng in September 2020 as a copyeditor and proofreader for the Human Interest, Current Affairs, Business, Sports and PR desks. As a grammar police, she develops her skills by reading novels and dictionaries. Email: khadeeejathabit@gmail.com

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