Nigeria
Nigeria’s Army chief, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusufu Buratai, has issued a 40-day ultimatum for troops engaged in Boko Haram combat to deliver Abubakar Shekau – factional leader of the group, dead or alive.
The directive was issued on Friday 21st July 2017, by implication latest by the 30th of August, Abubakar Shekau should be in custody of the army.
An army statement said Buratai “has directed the Theatre Commander, Operation LAFIYA DOLE, Major General Ibrahim Attahiru, to capture Abubakar Shekau, the so-called and self-styled leader of Boko Haram terrorists group, dead or alive.”
Lafiya Dole is the codename of the counterinsurgency operation aimed at defeating the insurgent group that started in northeastern Borno State’s capital, Maiduguri, but has spread across the Lake Chad region.
SUGGESTED READING Al-Shabaab beats Boko Haram to become Africa’s deadliest terrorist group 2016
“He (the operation chief) is to employ all arsenal at the disposal of the Theatre Command to smoke out Shekau wherever he is hiding in Nigeria.
“The general public is please requested to also assist and volunteer information that would lead to the accomplishment of this task, “ the statement signed by Brigadier General Sani Kukasheka Usman, Director Army Public Relations added.
The Sambisa forest, located in the northeastern Borno State, is the main hideout of the insurgent group Boko Haram. The Army has previously reported dislodging the group from the headquarters in the forest – Camp Zairo.
Shekau is the subject of several fatally wounded reports over the years. There are times his death has even been announced but more often than not he appears in a new video denouncing the reports and mocking the army and government.
Go to video
UK police arrest three of migrants' deaths in Channel
00:39
Nigerian chess master plays for 60 hours in bid to set new world record
01:28
Nigeria's crude oil output goes down again in March - OPEC
00:53
West African Sahel is becoming a drug smuggling corridor, UN warns, as seizures skyrocket
01:05
A Nigerian chess champion is trying to break the world record for the longest chess marathon
01:11
Kenya’s military chief dies in a helicopter crash, Nairobi declares three days of national mourning