Is he dead? Is he alive? Who? Well i’m talking of nigeria’s enemy number one- the boko haram leader ibrahim shekau.
Not too long ago, security agencies said he may have died as a result of wounds he sustained during a shoot-out with security agents sometime in july.
He was almost captured, but his aides managed to evacuate him across the border to cameroun.
He was in hospital-this picture yesterday testifies to that, and he actually appeared lifeless here.
As the official claims have it, shekau never made it, but since there was no evidence to prove this, perhaps until this picture now, security agents have continued to maintain the cautious approach that the boko haram leader may have died.
As the official claims have it, shekau never made it, but since there was no evidence to prove this, perhaps until this picture now, security agents have continued to maintain the cautious approach that the boko haram leader may have died.
However, about two weeks ago, a video surfaced, allegedly showing shekau who claimed he was not dead, and as usual promised more attacks while claiming responsibility for all the attacks, mostly on innocent people, including students. But security agencies have now subjected the video to proper scrutiny and the report from the sss yesterday, suggests that the video may just have been mere manipulations.
The security statement in abuja says the person who purported to be shekau in the video is a clone. Why or how? Unlike the real shekau who will launch into a long recitation of quranic verses before delivering his message, that was absent here, as this new shekau just launched into a tirade without the usual sequence that shekau was known for.
Again, the usual pattern in previous videos was that nobody dared interrupt shekau, but there were interruptions in the latest video, showing that this make belief shekau does not command respect.
Again, the lips of the alleged shekau did not synchronise with the words as pronounced in the video. And the last straw, that put paid to the genuiness of the video, this cloned shekau made reference to late margaret thatcher as one of the western leaders who rejoiced at the news of his death-now, we all know that the iron lady died since april this year and therefore could not have rejoiced at the death of shekau in august. The conclusion of the security agencies for now is that-lets wait and see, but the cautious optimism is that this picture you are seeing is that of shekau on his dying bed.