The twice-killed Abubakar Shekau . The news of the death of a most wanted terrorist like Boko Haram’s Abubakar Shekau in a gunfight with the Nigerian military should spark wild celebrations. He and his army have caused so much catastrophe that their decimation is a triumph of good over evil, enough to warrant a national holiday. It does not quite matter if Shekau’s death does not exterminate Boko Haram (Osama Bin Laden’s death did not end Al Qaeda or extremists’ terrorism probably because terrorism is more of an ideology than personality) but it would provide some form of closure to a protracted battle between light and darkness. The Nigerian Army’s presumption that Shekau might have been fatally wounded in a gun duel with men of the JTF raised eyebrows instead. This is the second time — the first was in 2009 — he would be pronounced dead. Just recently, we were told he was deposed and killed by his own men who had begun negotiations with the FG. The inconsistency erodes the credibility of the Nigerian state. Even the wording of the press release announcing Shekau’s death is curious. It states: “…Intelligence reports available to the Joint Task Force revealed that Abubakar Shekau…may (sic) have died. He died of gunshot wounds…. Shekau was mortally wounded in the encounter and… he never recovered. It is greatly believed that Shekau might have died between July 25 and August 3, 2013.” Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa, Spokesman for JTF. Please note that in four sentences, the report oscillates between certainty and speculation. It goes from “may have died” to “He died of…” and, “mortally wounded” to “greatly believed.” I am not certain whether this is simply a case of careless writing or someone is being manipulative. The difference between “may have died” and “He died of…” is as close as the one between being “pregnant” and “almost pregnant.” The question is, did he die or not? Where is the proof? For those who will argue that when another wanted terrorist, Osama Bin Laden, was killed, the US government did not provide any material evidence other than the word of President Barack Obama, I like to remind them that the contexts are different. The US is a more accountable society and the president cannot make spurious claims without consequences. He can tell cheap lies now and then –all politicians are cut from the same cloth — but when he is caught, the penalties are dire. Same etiquette applies to its military. When Obama stated that the US would apprehend the Boston terrorists, you start to count down. When the Nigerian president makes similar boasts, you know his attack lions are reading routine press statements. So when Obama told Americans that Bin Laden was dead, they knew he was not fooling around. I must add that many conspiracy theorists still do not believe that Bin Laden is actually dead. Despite the various accounts of Operation Neptune Spear — the raid that killed Bin Laden — out there, they insist Bin Laden is alive. An organisation, Judicial Watch, is taking a suit to the Supreme Court. They are seeking to pressurise the CIA into releasing photos of Bin Laden’s dead body, if they truly exist. It is the 21st century, the age of pictures-or-it-didn’t-happen and so people are right to ask for evidence. On the back of revelations about the reach and depth of the USA intelligence gathering, one would be hard pressed to disbelieve. The Nigerian Army, on the other hand, though a corps of professional men and women has had many misses on the Boko Haram bombers ranging from a botched rescue mission to the embarrassing fact that they have very scant information to offer about the Shekau personality. They therefore should not expect to be taken at their word without an independent verification. Come to think of it, the report of his killing is coming now that the US has placed a $7m bounty on his head? Is this the JTF’s way of showing they do not need the US to get Nigerian terrorists or this report is actually a scheme to protect Shekau from the big stick? From indications, Nigeria’s fight against Boko Haram lacks thoughtful coordination. One day, the President says he wants to hold dialogue but cannot find their leaders. Another time, he says he is not ready to negotiate amnesty with ghosts. Then he turns around and sets up an amnesty committee. One minute he condemns terrorists to hell; another hour, he says we should love them like brothers; then says the FG will back decisions to take Boko Haram to the ICC. The president declared a state of emergency in three states while it was still subsisting in some of those places. It is about three months now since that declaration and so far, it is uncertain if it is meant to be indefinite. You want some progress reports on what that action has achieved but none is forthcoming. For all we know, Aso Rock might have forgotten about the state of emergency declaration altogether! One important thing the controversy over Shekau’s death should teach the Nigerian Army is information management in the 21st century. Their spokespersons need to understand the centrality of public perception of credibility of their activities. Half-truths, speculation and outright lies are unhelpful at this juncture. For instance, when they debunked Shekau’s recent videos, it was not enough for them to have told us — flippantly — that it was a forgery because an imposter was masquerading him. They ought to tell us they carried out a proper forensic analysis on the video to determine its veracity. It is the digital age; video manipulations are quite easy. Besides, who knows if Shekau is a terrorists’ creation to give a face to their activities, another Jomo Gbomo character? Unlike Al Qaeda that confirmed the death of Bin Laden, I am not sure Boko Haram will ever admit the death of Shekau. One more painful thing is the sparse information on the Shekau personality. His biographical details are shrouded, a problem of the poor data culture in Nigeria. It is hard to find substantial information to carry out a proper psychoanalysis of the man. No one seems sure of his age, his background, and his trajectory to extreme terrorism. At least in the case of Bin Laden, we know of his anti-communist involvement with the US.
Posted on: Thu, 22 Aug 2013 06:25:38 +0000
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