Another Boko Haram commander killed

There was jubilation, on Thursday, over rumoured death of a commander of the Boko Haram sect, as the battle to defeat terrorists in the North-Eastern part of the country rages on, with Nigerian troops, in conjunction with allied forces from neighbouring countries gaining the upper hand.

Informed military sources at the frontline reported that the leader was a casualty of the ongoing heavy air bombardment from warplanes, while clearing the way for the ground troops of multinational task force to move into some towns near one of the borders.

The source noted that a couple of weeks ago, the military high command had obtained approval of political authorities in Abuja to go all out and clear the region of insurgency before the February general election.

However, events turned round as of the period when massive operations were to start, as the terrorists carried out simultaneous desperate and diversionary attacks on Maiduguri, Konduga and Monguno, to both delay the commencement of planned military offensive and allow for the escape of their commanders around the axis.

Nigerian Tribune gathered that despite this, the operations commenced and had been fierce with the cooperation of Chad, Niger and Cameroon, all Nigeria’s neighbours, leading to the capture of many towns and villages previously infested by the terrorists.

Some of the towns already recaptured include Gamboru-Ngala, Malamfatori, Abadam, Kirawa and Ashigashiya and Michika, while the liberation of Gwaoza, Gulak and others may be announced any moment from now.

During these battles, some of the weapons captured from troops when the terrorists overran Baga, headquarters of the International Joint Task Force some weeks ago were recovered by Nigerian fighters.

A leader of Boko Haram sect had, in a video released shortly after the Baga attack, boasted that his band captured world-class sophisticated weaponry from Nigerian troops, who he referred to as cowards.

Among the recovered weapons was a Battle Armoured Tank equipped with comprehensive protective system, with maximum firing distance and accuracy with anti-aircraft rotating mount, whose fire accuracy is attained by range-finder, ballistic computer with a thermal barrel sleeve.

Several other weapons, arms and ammunition, including variety of armoured vehicles and artillery guns, as well as several Hilux vehicles were also taken from them.

A reliable security source confirmed the death of the top ranking leader during the air raid, but its authenticity was still being investigated by military authorities.

The leader was one of the senior officers in Boko Haram command to late founder of the group, Muhammed Yusuf.

When contacted, Defence spokesperson, Major-General Chris Olukolade, declined to comment on the authenticity or otherwise of the report, saying “as far as we are concerned, anybody that is associated with terrorism is a target and right now, we have a task of cleaning up the entire Boko Haram infested region, returning peace to the country.”

It will be recalled that one of the leaders of Boko Haram sect, whose death had been controversial is Shekau, whose death was announced on August 19, 2013 by the Joint Task Force (JTF).

It claimed he died of gunshots wounds received in an encounter with the JTF in one of their camps in Sambisa Forest on June 30, 2013. He was said to be severely wounded in the encounter and was sneaked into Amitchide, a border community in Cameroon for treatment, from which he never recovered.

Many months later, another character appeared in a video claiming to be Shekau, but having different mannerism, gait and character from the original Shekau. Incidentally, the reign of this Shekau, termed Abubakar Shekau 11 by security sources, was shortlived, as he was reportedly killed in a shootout with Nigerian troops in Konduga, on September 17, 2014.

Although video and still shots of the encounter were provided by military and independent sources, another character yet appeared in another video shortly afterwards, claiming to still be Abubakar Shekau, who the military and security sources referred to him as Abubakar Shekau 111.