Following the spate of recent
successes recorded by troops against Boko Haram insurgents in the North East,
Nigerian troops have been put on red alert for any insurgents’ leader bearing
the name of Imam Abubakar Shekau, who is believed to be desperately looking for
escape routes.
A senior military source,
however, informed defence publicist, PRNigeria, that troops had been urged to
try at all costs to capture Shekau alive, so that he would face justice.
On at least two occasions now,
troops had killed characters calling themselves Abubakar Shekau in videos, but
the insurgents managed to find other individuals looking like him and pretended
that he was still alive.
The order to catch Shekau alive
is, therefore, to ensure that it would no longer be possible to resort to the
same trick.
According to sources, the rumour
about Shekau’s invincibility was one of the factors troops were afraid of to
confront the terrorists.
Meanwhile the troop’s morale has
been greatly boosted in recent times, by the arrival of sophisticated armaments
and the decision of senior military officers to lead the war against terror
directly.
Intelligence sources disclosed
that some of the successes recorded in recovery of big towns in the North-East
were due to deployment of new strategies, improved disciplinary measures;
sincerity of participating countries in the regional alliance and the
acquisition of latest equipment.
In the past, Colonels had led
direct attacks in accordance with military tradition, but because of the large
scale desertions recorded, Generals had decided to directly lead the war.
It was even learnt that many of
the troops that earlier deserted had returned while others had expressed desire
to return to the front.
Within a week of the massive
operation, the troops had recovered Monguno, Marte, Gamboru Ngala, Dikwa among
other big towns and several surrounding communities in Borno State.
The source added that “with
acquisition of new equipment from various sources and the specialised training
of the troops on guerrilla warfare, the military indirectly called the bluff of
some deceptive Western countries who are now trying to save face by claiming to
work with our neighbours.
“The effective collaboration and
mutual relationship with our neighbours is paying off, as they now realise that
inactions can pose disasters to their countries too,” the source noted.
Tags
Crime