Chief of army staff gives his commanders 40-day ultimatum to capture Boko Haram leader dead or alive

CHIEF of army staff Lt General Tukur Buratai has given his troops a 40-day ultimatum to capture Boko Haram leader Sheikh Abubakar Shekau dead or alive as part of a fresh campaign to finish off the terrorist sect.

Since 2009, Boko Haram has been fighting to establish an Islamic caliphate in northeastern Nigeria and at one stage controlled 14 local government areas. Of late, however, the Nigerian Army launched Operation Lafiya Dole, which resulted in the terrorists being beaten back and most of the territory they control reclaimed.

Despite the military successes, Boko Haram still remains operational and is still keeping over 100 of the Government Girls Secondary School Chibok pupils it abducted in April 2014. Exasperated with the inability to rout the terrorists once and for all, Lt General Buratai has instructed Major General Ibrahim Attahiru, the theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole to capture Sheikh Shekau, dead or alive.

Army spokesman Brigadier Sani Usman, said: “The theatre commander has further been directed to do so within 40 days. He is to employ all arsenals at the disposal of the theatre command to smoke out Shekau wherever he is hiding in Nigeria.”

He urged the general public to assist by volunteering information that would lead to the accomplishment of this task. This is the first time the military would be giving an ultimatum to its commanders for the capture or elimination of Sheikh Shekau and it is believed that his capture or elimination will be a turning point in the war against terror.

Although Sheikh Shekau’s location is currently unknown, he is believed to be hiding on the fringes of Sambisa Forest. In the past, Nigeria's military had, on more than two occasions claimed it killed Sheikh Shekau, only for the Boko Haram leader to resurface in videos to debunk such claims.

Even when the military announced the capture of Sambisa Forest, it was evidently clear that Sheikh Shekau had escaped as there were no reports of his death or arrest.  While it has been established that there are two factions of Boko Haram, it is believed that the one, which released the Chibok school girls was not the Shekau one.