What if Boko Haram Leader is dead?

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Reported by
Abdullahi Adam Muhammad

Africa-PressNigeria. Excepting the dwellers of the city of Maiduguri in the North East of the country, many Nigerians didn’t see or know about any one like Abubakar Shekau before sometime in 2009 when a violence erupted between the police and some members of a group Boko-Haram. The violence claimed the lives of as many of the group members including their leader, Muhammad Yusuf, following the military intervention.

This, eventually, made Shekau the new leader of the group. The group claiming to establish an Islamic state is an Alqa’ida and the ISIS allied terrorist groups which caused the death of many innocent citizens destroying their properties, means of earning and forcing them to flee from homes. Boko-Haram destroyed schools abducted students in various institutes of education, detonating bombs in mosques and markets.

Research indicates that Shekau whose full name was Abubakar, was borne in 1969 in Shekau, a small village in Yobe State Nigeria. Despite the fact that the information about his life is always unclear, Shekau was believed to have attended Muhammad Gony Collage of Legal and Islamic Studies where he left instantly as a result of extremism and the hatred of what they call Western Education Haram.

Authorities in Nigeria have in many times been announcing his death in the battle but no sooner do they announce his death than he appears in a video to prove them wrong. Reports emphasizes that the group was an ally of ISIS before it subsequently split into two what made the relationship ended. This faction made the two parties enemies and Shekau himself was said to have been killed or severely injured as they crossed sword recently.

Nigerians question is that what if shekau has been killed? Will his death be counted success in fighting against terrorism?

As Nigerians are talking about his death and the fate of the group, Professor Kamilu Sani Fagge, a prominent political analysts and a lecturer in Bayero university, Kano, Nigeria has expressed his view: “…One thing is clear that this is not the first time Nigerians hear the news that Shekau is dead but later on we see him in video released by him which indicates the contrary. Whatever it is, but may not necessarily change the pattern of Boko-Haram activity. It’s likely that somebody will take over and we don’t know how dangerous the person should be.”

He added that, “As the regard to the issue why the security agencies are silent about the issue, I think up to now they are not certain. There is no concrete evidence what happened that actually Shekau died.”

Kamilu Sani Fagge said that, “Whether Shekau is alive or dead, Nigerians expect that security agencies should put more effort in order to bring about the end of this conflicts. This is the longest crises that Nigeria has experienced that is claiming a lot of lives, properties and so on. And it is very dangerous for the country…”

Kamilu Sani Fagge, lecturer in Bayero university, Kano, Nigeria

Lastly, he advised Nigerian government to put more effort in fighting corruption, saying that: “I believed that government should try to change the issue of corruption, because corruption is perhaps one of the reason why this conflict has continued. Some people are making money out of it that is why they don’t want it to end. Secondly, the security agencies should be properly trained in order to handle the case. They should be equipped; they should be motivated. Another thing that will help is we intensify the issue of joint effort with our neighbors, because Boko-Haram crises affects our own neighbors.”

 

1 COMMENT

  1. Ours isn’t to see the death of Shekau only but, to also see the death and end of the insecurity brought by his group and others.

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