Shekau’s ‘Death’ Won’t End Boko Haram Insurgency

Northern-based civil rights activist and President of Civil Rights Congress, Mallam Shehu Sani, said on Sunday that the purported killing of the leader of the violent Isamic sect, Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau by the Joint Task Force in Maiduguri, Borno State would not end the insurgency in the region.

Sani, who doubted the claim of the death of the sect leader, noted that if at all the sect leader had been killed as claimed by JTF, the highest organ of the sect(Shura) would have since announced the death and appointed a successor.

He challenged the military authorities to produce the corpse of the Boko Haram leader if at all he had been killed.

“On the death of Abubakar Shekau.  If at all  Abubakar Shekau  was killed by the JTF. First of  all, there will be an announcement by the Shura Council that  Shekau  had been “martyr” they will naturally appoint a successor to Shekau. That is one. Secondly, if there was a killing of Shekau, Nigerians should not believe it until JTF or the government  or the dialogue committee present the body of  Shekau before Nigerians, and thirdly,  we  should not misinform ourselves or mislead ourselves, the killing of Shekau will not  end the insurgency in Nigeria as long as  there is one person or two persons who are aggrieved,” Sani said.

Sani, while addressing a news conference in Kaduna on Sunday,  said the way forward was  for the government to act on his report which he set through former President Olusegun Obasanjo and  the one brought to them by  Dr. Datti Ahmed which was facilitated by a freelance journalist, Ahmed Sarkida.
He insisted that Nigerians had been fed with lies since the beginning of the violent activities of the sect three years ago by those he described as “fraudulent” characters who had continued  to exploit the current situation for their own benefit.

He noted that several claims by security agencies, committee and the government itself had all turned out to be lies.

Sani urged the Federal Government to stop deceiving Nigerians on the activities of the violent Islamic group.
He also urged Nigerians not to believe what they were been fed by the security agencies, the Amnesty Committee as well as the government.

He also dismissed the claims by the amnesty committee that it had fruitful dialogue with members of the Boko Haram sect, noting that the committee was just misleading Nigerians with the half-hearted information it released.

He said, “Nigerians have been fed with lies  in the last three years. Lies  by the security agencies,lies by the government  and lies  by the people who have been exploiting the situation  as it is on the ground.

“There have been about 15 claims of ceasefire which had all been dismissed by Boko Haram, there have been three claims of dialogue with the sect in Saudi Arabia which was dismissed  by Boko Haram. We have   consistently  been  fed  with kilings of commanders, deputy commanders, topnotch,  icons of Boko Haram and top  men of Boko Haram but none of these have put an end  to the insurgency.”