There is
grumbling among senior officers in the Nigerian military over the indifference
of the United States (US) government to the ongoing counter-insurgency and
counter-terrorism operations in the North-east, with some aggrieved that the US
is yet to fulfill its promise on the bounty placed on the Boko Haram leader,
Abubakar Shekau.
In June
2012, the US Department of State had designated Shekau a “Specially Designated
Global Terrorist” under Executive Order 13224.
The following year, the Boko Haram leader was declared a wanted man by the US. The country went further to place a $7 million bounty on Shekau for anyone who could provide information leading to his arrest or killing.
The following year, the Boko Haram leader was declared a wanted man by the US. The country went further to place a $7 million bounty on Shekau for anyone who could provide information leading to his arrest or killing.
However,
this seems not to be the case as the US is yet to make any statement on the
reported killing of the Boko Haram leader or his imposter, as claimed by the
military.
According to
a highly-placed military source in the Defence Headquarters (DHQ), the US is
yet to even acknowledge that Shekau and his impostor had been killed, choosing
to remain indifferent.
The source
said: “The US strategy has been targeted at first of all undermining and then
demystifying the Nigerian military and would never acknowledge that we killed
Shekau.
“Already,
you can see that the US and Western powers have chosen not to give us credit
for the killing of that Shekau impostor, Mohammed Bashir.
“This is
clearly evident in most of their media reports where they still hold on to the
claims by the Camerounian forces that they killed Mohammed Bashir.”
When contacted
on the issue, the Director of Defence Information (DDI), Major-General Chris
Olukolade, said the US was yet to acknowledge the killing of Shekau and or his
impostor.
He however
added that the question of who should be given the bounty would be resolved
amicably when the US makes its position known.
“I think all
the issues raised revolve around the matter of whether or not the Americans
believe or are convinced that the characters are actually dead. Then all other
issues will be naturally resolved,” he said.
In recent
days, the issue has also been raised by Nigerians via the social media when
some wanted to know if the bounty had been paid and to whom it was paid.
Others who
commented on it on Twitter were of the view that the US government had remained
silent on the bounty because it was yet to be convinced that the Boko Haram
leader or his imposter had been killed.
Some posts
said the US government was being cautious and might be carrying out its own
investigations to verify the facts in order to avoid a situation whereby
another video pops up on the internet with someone else claiming to be
Shekau.
However, a
security expert who spoke on the issue said the obvious silence of the US
government on the Shekau’s killing was “deliberate and strategic to their
course”.
“Is
Americans waiting to be informed officially that Shekau has been killed before
they make good their promise? Terrorists die everyday and they get to know like
every member of the public,” he said.