There appears to be some optimism that the Boko Haram systemic violence against the Nigerian state and neigbouring countries may soon end or at least be curtailed to a large extent, following Wednesdays’ $7million bounty placed on the leader of the sect, Abubakar Shekau, by the President Donald Trump administration.
Some Nigerians, who spoke with BDSUNDAY, said their hope was predicated on the fact that the current US President Donald Trump has demonstrated capacity and the will to destroy terrorist elements around the world and also back US allies to eliminate the terrorists whereever they are found.
The announcement that the US had placed a bounty of $7 million for information leading to the arrest of the terrorist leader, was made in a tweet by the United States Department Rewards for Justice Programme Wednesday.
“The United States Department of State is offering a reward of up to $7 million for information leading to the arrest of the terrorist Abubakar Shekau, boss of #BokoHaram,” the tweet said.
US forces in January killed commander of Iranian al-qud forces in Iraq, Qassim Suleimani who the Trump administration considered a terrorist. This triggered a bitter diplomatic row between the US and Iran but the Trump administration, remained unperturbed, vowing to take more actions against terrorists. The Americans had also deployed drones to kill another al-qaeda leader in Iraq, Qassim Al-Rimi in February and the attention on Shekau this month may have signalled US next plan of action.
Veteran security analyst, Ben Okezie, told BDSUNDAY that ‘Shekau’, is a title for Boko Haram leaders, adding that most time they use it to confuse people. He stressed that some persons that had taken that title before had been killed and other leaders had replaced them.
“The first Shekau that succeeded former Boko Haram leader, Mohammed Yusuf, was eliminated some weeks after Mohammed Yusuf was killed by the police and another one came on board which is the one that the military under Buratai eliminated last year,” he claimed.
He disclosed that when the US forces killed ISIS leader, Abubakar al-Baghdadi, last year in Syria, ISIS members which Boko Haram got affiliated to, migrated to Nigeria and appointed and trained another Shekau to take charge.
“So, the US got information that he is now in Nigeria and that is why they now put the money on his head. The US has a list of many of the ISIS members targeted for elimination. They found out that a new leader has migrated to Nigeria and you can see that immediately the guy came on board; you can see the type of killings that were happening in Nigeria; the war escalated again,” Okezie said.
He added that it became incumbent on the US to take that action because the ISIS has been training so many Boko Haram boys and recruiting more fighters from Nigeria, Niger and Chad even as he expressed hope that much pressure would be exerted on the terrorists.
The President of the Middle Belt Forum, Pogu Bitrus, who also spoke with BDSUNDAY, said the US has always been serious about the war against terrorism, adding that this is not the first time a bounty would be placed on Shekau.
“But given that the US, a foreign country, has realised the need to put pressure on Boko Haram to stop doing what they are doing and to assure Nigerians that we are not alone, is a good development. But whether or not the Nigerian military would put in more efforts to get Shekau is another thing.
He noted that the strategy the US might employ is left to them, saying, “We cannot predict that strategy. All we know is that a serious person like Trump has made good his statement at this time. It gives assurance to people who are being terrorised, that yes, the US is concerned about what is happening in Nigeria. They would use whatever strategy available to them.
“The US is a sophisticated country; they have intelligence all over the world. In Nigeria, they have people who work for them and I believe they are going to deploy whatever they feel is most appropriate to achieve their objective but what they might do we cannot predict because they are more sophisticated than us and they have lots of options when it comes to such things,’ he said.
When asked whether US-Nigeria security collaboration would yield any good results, following speculations that some elements within Nigerian security forces work to undermine the war against terrorism, he said: “It remains in the domain of speculation; we believe the US has the capacity to deploy different forms of technology; the US President is not joking and we expect something good might happen,” he said.
Another Nigerian security expert who does not want his name on print said: “This latest bounty placed on the head of Shekau under President Donald Trump might open a new vista in the hunt for the Boko Haram leader, perhaps in the same way that the leader of ISIS, Abubakar Al-Baghdadi was hunted and killed in Syria in October last.”
Recall that since he assumed the leadership of the Boko Haram sect, after the execution of the former leader, Mohammed Yusuf, in 2010, Shekau has been responsible for coordinated attacks and bombings leading to deaths and destruction of lives and property in Nigeria and neighboring countries in the Chad basin such as in Niger, Cameroon and Chad.
Boko Haram activities have caused the death of over 35,000 persons in mainly the northeast states of Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe and other parts of Nigeria since the beginning of the conflict in 2009. It has also led to the displacement of over 2.5 million people.
Shekau’s terrorist activities attracted world attention first with the bombing of the United Nations headquarters in 2012. He went further to shock the world when he masterminded the abduction of nearly 300 female school girls from Government School in Chibok, Borno State on April 14 2014 after masterminding the killing of over 100 people in Nyanya, a suburb of Abuja on the same day.
The world got up in fury to condemn the abductions and a flurry of campaigns for the release of the girls took a centre stage in the world with the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls, organised by celebrities, activists and former US first lady, Michelle Obama.
“I abducted your girls; I will sell them in the market, by Allah. I will sell them off and marry them off,” Shekau had boasted.
In June 2012, the United States Department of State designated Shekau as a terrorist and effectively offering a reward of up to $7m (£4.6m) for information about his location. On June 21, 2012, the country designated Shekau a “specially designated global terrorist” under Executive Order 13224.
Innocent Odoh, Abuja
