THE official admission by the Federal Government through the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan Ali, that the leader of Boko Haram Islamist terrorist group, Abubakar Shekau, is still alive and hiding in the Sambisa Forest came as a shock to most Nigerians who had taken it for granted that the military were now simply conducting mop-up operations.

Shekau

Following the reported capture of Camp Zero, its “spiritual” headquarters by the military and the submission of what was described as the Islamic militant leader’s flag and Quran to President Muhammadu Buhari during a Guards Brigade Regimental Dinner in Abuja in December 2016, Buhari declared Boko Haram “defeated”.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed had, in December 2015, also declared Boko Haram “technically defeated”, even though the terrorists were very active then as today.

Apart from the repeated declaration of the defeat of Boko Haram by the Army and the Federal Government, Shekau has been announced dead several times, with apparent photo and video evidences, but the insurgent leader always came out to debunk these official claims.

All these have created confusion in the minds of Nigerians, who have always been led to believe that the Federal Government had delivered on its campaign promise of defeating Boko Haram in record time. From the look of things, the war on terror has entered a chronic stage where the exact extent of progress made is difficult to ascertain.

President Buhari, in his inaugural address on 29th May 2015, had affirmed that he would not consider Boko Haram defeated until all the remaining Chibok girls were rescued or accounted for. With the official declaration of Shekau as still being alive and nearly 200 Chibok girls still missing, while some isolated cases of Boko Haram invasions and suicide bombings are still going on in and around Maiduguri, the war on terror may yet remain with us for some time, unfortunately.

Though we know that no anti-terrorist military campaign is a stroll in the park, we urge the Federal Government to focus military engagements more on the eradication of Boko Haram, the capture (dead or alive) of Shekau and the rescue of the rest of the surviving Chibok girls. The military should no longer be sent to tackle peaceful protests, which is a job meant for the Police. The issues that lead to these protests can be tackled through dialogue and improvement of the Federal Government’s approach to governance.

Until the Federal Government makes good its pledge to capture Shekau and secure the release of all Boko Haram captives, we urge the Federal and Borno State Governments to suspend efforts to close down the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps for now.