Shekau’s whereabouts still unknown – Nigerian Army

The Nigerian military on Wednesday declared that the whereabouts of the leader of the Boko Haram
sect, Abubakar Shekau, remained unknown even as it disclosed that three suicide female bombers were gunned down in Madagali, Adamawa State.


Addressing a press conference in Maiduguri, the head of the nation’s counterinsurgency operation
(Operation Lafiya Dole), Maj. Gen. Lucky Irabor, said the claim that Shekau had relocated to somewhere in Kala­Balge, in Borno North was a rumour that the military had yet to substantiate.

He said the whereabouts of Abubakar Shekau was largely unknown to the military, insisting that “If I
know where Shekau is now, I will grab his balls.”

Irabor, however, insisted that the war against insurgency had been won by the military but urged
Nigerians to contribute towards winning the peace in the North­East.

Irabor also paraded 10 Boko Haram suspects, who he said, surrendered themselves to the Nigerian
military.

The theatre commander, who said the 10 belonged to the two insurgency groups of Abubakar Shekau
and Mamman Nur, disclosed that they had undergone de­radicalisation process as they had shown
willingness to retrace their steps.

Irabor added that the troops had rescued 1,400 persons in the ongoing battle against the insurgents in the
last one week.

He said the troops were able to gun down three suspected female suicide bombers on Wednesday in
Madagali town of Adamawa State during a military operation in the state.

He said the female suicide bombers tried to run at the troops with their explosives but they were shot “to
prevent a major disaster.”

Meanwhile, some repentant Boko Haram members on Wednesday appealed to their former colleagues
still in Sambisa Forest to lay down their arms and embrace peace.

One of them, Joseph David, made the appeal when the Army presented them to newsmen in Maiduguri.
David, who is also known as Ibrahim Alhaji, said he chose to lay down his arms to embrace peace

“I have chosen to lay down my arms to allow peace to reign in the country. We have been accepted by
the Nigerian Government, contrary to what we were told by the sect leaders,” he said.

Another suspect (name withheld) also appealed to his former colleagues still hiding in the Sambisa
Forest to lay down their arms and embrace peace.

“The sect leaders told us not to surrender to the government because we will be killed, but to our
surprise, nothing happened to us.

“The Nigerian government has accepted us and is taking good care of us,” he said.

Irabor said four of the repentant Boko Haram terrorists were from Mamman Nur’s camp, while six were
from the Shekau’s faction.