By Oluwagbemisoke Clarion
Abubakar Shekau, one of the most wanted terrorists in the world has gone into hiding following the United State’s renewed manhunt for the leader of killer Boko Haram terrorists.
The US government, on Monday placed a $7 million bounty on the head of the boko haram leader, in a fresh campaign against the blood thirsty insurgent sect.
Apart from the ransom, the magazine learnt that some US Special forces will also be sent to the country to train Nigerian troops on counter insurgency tactics, apart from other war platforms expected in the next few weeks.
“The clock is ticking for the Boko Haram leader,” said Emmanuel Bakri, a security expert, who explained that the US appears not been happy over the group’s’ killings of Christians in the country, which it feared could lead to a bloody religious war.
But Shekarau’s position has further been threatened by the leadership tussle between ISWAP and Boko Haram led by him.
ISWAP new leader, Abubakar Lawan, popular as Ba Lawan, has been executing rival commanders in a bid to consolidate his position as the ultimate head of both Boko Haram and ISWAP.
As part of the ongoing ‘purging’, the IWAP leader has executed at least five Shura council members (the supreme leadership council of the terrorist group) including the erstwhile leader of the group Abu Abdullahi Umar Al Barnawi, popular as Ba Idrisa.
The magazine also learnt that one of those executed by Ba Lawan, is the son of founder of Boko Haram, Moahammed Yusuf.
The development has further polarized the terror groups along the Shekau and Ba Lawan lines, the magazine was told on Wednesday, leading to bloody clashes among their supporters as the two most wanted terrorist leaders try to consolidate on their territories.
But Shekau’s position has further been threatened by the renewed quest by the Donald Trump administration to arrest him.
Rewards for Justice Program (RJP), the counterterrorism rewards program of the US Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, two days ago disclosed that it can was willing to pay the amount for information that lead to Shekarau arrest.
“The United States Department of State offers a reward up to $7m for information leading to the arrest of the terrorist, Abubakar Shekau, leader of Boko Haram,” the US State Department said on its tweeter handle.
The US has on June 21, 2012, designated Shekau a “specially designated global terrorist” under executive order 13224 and placed the $7m bounty on him.
Recall that the federal government had in 2018, placed a bounty of N3 million on the terror leader in a desperate move to rein in insurgency in the country.
So far, Shekarau has remained elusive despite many claims by the Nigerian military that he has been killed in combat.
Five times, the Nigerian armed forces claimed it has taken out the terror leader and has “tactically” neutralized the group.
For instance, in 2009, Shekau was said to have been killed alongside hundreds of his fighters.
In August 2013, he was also said to have been killed by troops after a raid on Sambisa forest, the epicenter of the insurgent war.
Also in 2014, the military engaged the fighters in a bloody battle in Konduga between September 12 and 14, at the end of which Nigerian troops claimed the Boko haram leader fell to their superior fire power.
It was the turn of President Idris Deby of Chad to announce in 2015 that Shekau has been killed and that a new leader has taken over the group.
On August 19, 2016, the Nigerian Airforce claimed that Shekau had been badly wounded and later died after attack on his base at Taye Village.
He would later appear in a You Tube video this same year claiming he was alive.
Shekau took over the leadership of the insurgent group in 2010 following the killing of Yusuf, its ex-leader.
Meanwhile, analysts insist that the United State’s intervention, this time around could further put more pressure on the already divide groups, a situation that may finally lead to its defeat and arrest of its most wanted leader, Shekau.
A civil advocacy group, Concerned Professionals’ Congress (CPC) said the terror group faces a major threat following the US $7m bounty on Shekau.
In a statement by its Chief Media Strategist, Emeka Nwankpa, CPC said the US has effectively used the same strategy against top terror leaders in the past, adding that the arrest of Shekau will totally cripple the insurgents.
Nwankpa said “The placement of ransom was the pattern which the United States took in the past to hunt down and do justice to Osama bin Laden, Abubakar Al-Baghdadi and the rest of high-profile terrorists who are now history. We are glad that time will soon be up for Abubakar Shekau and his evil fellows”.
