'Deliver Shekau, dead or alive,' Nigeria army chief issues 40-day deadline

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.”

He is to employ all arsenal at the disposal of the Theatre Command to smoke out Shekau wherever he is hiding in Nigeria.

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.

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“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.