His grainy internet picture shows him wearing a turban. This is the only photograph of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau that is often used by newspapers. Nobody has seen him in public, except perhaps, members of his group, who are privileged to come in contact with him in the line of their deadly business. Thus, Shekau is more of a spirit than a human being. But he has a reputation of being a hard hearted and non – compromising fundamentalist.
There is a $7million reward on his head for the atrocities committed by Boko Haram, but Shekau seems unperturbed. He (or is it his ghost?) still comes out once in a while to either issue threats or claim responsibility for some attacks carried out by the sect. He spoke nine days ago, but the Joint Military Task Force (JTF) wants us to believe that it was not him that appeared on video posted on Youtube on August 13. The JTF claims that Shekau may have died of gunshot wounds in Amitchide in Cameroon on August 3.
If Shekau is dead, JTF should be able to prove to the world beyond reasonable doubt that this dreaded human terror is no more. The irony of it all is that the JTF itself is not sure whether Shekau is dead or alive. Its statement on Shekau’s well – being did not serve the purpose for which it was issued. The statement, I believe, was issued to clear the air over the death or otherwise of the Boko Haram leader, but it ended up confusing the public the more.
Until the statement was issued, the public knew nothing about the fate of Shekau. We didn’t know that there was an encounter in which he was allegedly shot but escaped with wounds. The JTF believes that he must have died from those wounds. What informed the JTF’s belief? We don’t know; all that we know is what is contained in its statement, which the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has described as hasty because the circumstances from which JTF drew its conclusions do not ‘’add up’’.
The military is not known to do things haphazardly. It takes its time to dot the I’s and cross the T’s in life and death matters before it comes out with its position. When it concerns the death of a person, the military is even extra careful because it knows the implication of saying a person is dead when that person’s death is not confirmed. The military double checks its facts to ensure that they are correct before pronouncing a person, whether a soldier or a bloody civilian like Shekau, dead. That is the military tradition. And JTF, we believe, is operating under that rule.
Shekau is not just any member of Boko Haram; he is its linchpin. He is to Boko Haram what the late Osama bin Ladin was to Al Qaeda before he was killed by the United States (US) Naval SEAL 5 in May, 2011. Shekau is not a small fry whose death should not be confirmed before it is made public. In breaking the news of the death of such a person, there is no need to rush things. Such a death can only be confirmed after a thorough and painstaking exercise.
If Shekau has indeed been killed, what Nigerians expect is a categorical statement from the authority, detailing how, where and when he was killed. The statement should not be equivocal. It must be clear, succint and unambiguous. As it were, the JTF statement cannot pass muster. This was the dilemma we found ourselves at our editorial meeting on Monday evening when we got the JTF statement. Do we take it at its face value and run with it that Shekau may have been killed as claimed by JTF? Do we do our independent findings to ascertain the true position of things?
We resolved to err on the side of caution by settling for the latter option. We found out that even within the military, the JTF claim was not well received. The military found it difficult to believe the JTF story that Shekau had been killed without concrete proof of his death. Where is the body? Which doctor confirmed him dead? Where was he killed? These are some of the questions begging for answers in the JTF statement. If Shekau actually died in Amitchide, Cameroon, has the JTF visited the place to see the body and confirm that it is really his?
In the face of the doubts expressed by the DHQ over JTF’s position, that statement is not worth the paper on which it is written, except the task force can convince us with clear cut evidence that Shekau is dead. We saw proof beyond reasonable doubt when bin Ladin was killed by the Americans. We saw his body being buried at sea. And we saw a confident President Barack Obama, exultantly responding to a question that: ‘’I can assure you that Osama bin Ladin will no longer walk the surface of the earth’’.
We need this kind of compelling evidence and talk to believe that Shekau is dead. For now, we don’t know what to believe. Is Shekau dead or alive?
