Boko Haram insurgents in the north eastern parts of the country,
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 said that troops have been urged to
try at all costs to capture Shekau alive so that he would face
justice.
On at least two occasions now, troops have killed characters calling
themselves Abubakar Shekau in videos but the insurgents manages to
find other individuals looking like him and pretend that he was still
alive.
The order to catch Shekau alive is therefore to ensure that it will no
longer be possible to resort to the same trick.
According to sources, the rumor about Shekau's invincibility is one of
the factors that troops are afraid to confront the terrorists.
Meanwhile troop's morale has been greatly boosted in recent times by
arrival of sophisticated armaments and the decision of senior military
officers to lead the war against terror directly which also influenced
the change of some commanders.
An 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, and sincerity of
participating countries in the regional alliance and the acquisitions
of latest equipment.
In the past, Colonels have led direct attacks in accordance with
military tradition but because of the large scale desertions recorded,
Military Generals then decided to directly lead the war and this has
greatly boosted morale.
It was even learnt that many of the troops that earlier deserted have
returned while others have expressed desire to return to the front.
Within a week of the massive operation, the troops have 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 neighbors.
The effective collaboration and mutual relationship with our neighbors
is paying off as they now realiZe that inactions can pose disasters to
their countries too," he concluded.
Source: PR Nigeria
