“He may not find it easy to return to Mali this time round but we suspect he may be targeting East Africa or parts of North Africa such as Libya and Egypt where some islamist groups are causing instability now”, the senior military chief said
He however noted that he cannot categorically say whether Shekau had indeed escaped or still in the country.
“On whether he has successfully escaped from Nigeria, I have no such information but at the same time I cannot rule that out because of his level of desperation to flee and his links with some other groups within the region and even beyond”, the source stressed, adding: “What we strongly believe at this moment is that he is still within our reach or that of our neighbours; especially Niger and Chad. He may find it difficult to move beyond these borders and may end up returning to one of our remote villages in the North-East to hide.”
The source also stated that Shekau had told some of his close lieutenants that he would rather die from gunshot from his guards than being killed by the Nigerian troops whom he regards as “infidels.”
“One of his captured commanders once disclosed that Shekau had given instructions to his personal guards to shoot him dead in the face of a confrontation with our troops who he calls infidels. He believes that makes him a martyr”, the source added.
When contacted on the information that Shekau had fled the country between the last week of March and the first two weeks of April, the acting Director of Public Relations, Nigeria Army, Colonel Sani Usman said, “We have an ongoing war against terrorists in this country and we are determined by all means and what it takes to eliminate, capture all terrorists and destroy all their known camps.
“If in the process, any of their leaders is captured, so be it because the whole war is not about an individual. We are also determined to arrest all of them dead or alive.”
The militant group had on March 7 pledged allegiance to the leadership of ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The pledge, which was made by Shekau, who addressed himself as the Imam of Jamaátu Ahlus Sunnah Lidda’awati Wal Jihad (Boko Haram) and was addressed to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi al-Husseini al-Qurashi, the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) or Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
A week after the pledge of allegiance by Boko Haram, ISIS leadership in a statement accepted the militant group into its fold, with a promise to work with it to establish an ISIS cell in West Africa. In an audio message, a man who claimed to be the spokesperson for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, ISIS, said the group’s aim of establishing a caliphate has now been expanded to West Africa.
ISIS has a few foreign groups from which it has accepted pledges, including Ansar Bayt al-Maqdisi in the Egyptian Sinai and groups of fighters in strategic areas of Libya. ISIS has a shura council that dictates the group’s strategic direction but takes a devolved, hands-off approach on tactical matters.
In April 14, 2014, Boko Haram claimed the abduction of 276 girls from a secondary school in Chibok, Borno.
Fifty-seven girls escaped within hours of the attack but 219 remained in captivity.
In the weeks following the mass abduction, Nigerian security sources and locals in Borno said there were indications the girls had been taken to the Sambisa Forest.
But defence officials and experts agreed that they were likely separated over the last 13 months, casting significant doubt on the possibility that they were being held together as a group.
Boko Haram’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, vowed to “marry them off” or sell them as “slaves.”
The Chibok attack brought unprecedented world attention to the Nigeria’s Islamist uprising.
Celebrities and prominent personalities including US First Lady Michelle Obama joined the Twitter campaign #BringBackOurGirls that attracted supporters worldwide.
Boko Haram spearheaded by Shekau has also been blamed for hundreds of other kidnappings, especially targeting women and girls across northeast
Culled:- Naij
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