By Abdullahi M. Gulloma
Abuja
Contrary to claims by the military that leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau was killed during operations in north eastern part of the country, the Minister of Defence, Brigadier-General Mansur Dan-Ali (retd), said Shekau is still alive.
Speaking to State House correspondents after briefing President Muhammadu Buhari on the security situation in the country, Dan-Ali said, Shekau was still hiding in Sambisa forest in Borno state.
He said the Boko Haram leader had been using masks to evade arrest, stressing that just like it took the United States of America seven years to capture Osama Bin Laden, Shekau would be captured soon.
“The spiritual headquarters has been ransacked and vandalised, he (Shekau) is on the run, so he may be hiding in one of the enclaves of Sambisa forest which we are dominating. We have opened up the place; we are using the place 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.
“Let me tell you categorically, these insurgents have a way of putting mask. There could be so many, but we are looking for the real one. He has been using mask 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.
“We have dominated the whole stronghold where they used to be; Camp Zero where their spiritual headquarters used to be was destroyed and is now occupied by our armed forces. 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,” he said.
The minister told journalists that the meeting he had with the President centred on security and that the President was impressed with the performance of the armed forces so far, and urged them to do more for the betterment of the country and its peoples.
“The directive is that we should do more. The more we put our efforts, the more Nigeria gets safer. We are doing our best and we have also requested for more in terms of equipment and I can categorically tell you that the Nigeria Armed forces have turned to professional Armed Forces.
“The last time we had training on Small Arms Competition was almost 11 years ago, so also the sports. So, you can see we are joining the professionalism with the security challenges that is happening in the country.”
The minister also spoke on homes for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), saying, “I have gone through the Sambisa forest, a lot of villages were empty. We are also thinking of facilitating the process whereby those of them with no issues with Boko Haram will be released to go back to their farming; that will enhance the economic empowerment of the people.”
