LEADER
of the Boko Haram sect, Abubakar Shekau, has again released another
audio message debunking the reported negotiation with his group.
Shekau released an audio message in August, to refute reports of his death as a result of five months silence.
In the latest message released on social media, Shekau, who spoke in
Arabic and Hausa, said the military lacked the capacity to confront his
men.
“Buhari is a liar and has deceived you. The Army spokesperson is also
lying. He and his footsoldiers always run helter-skelter whenever we
come face to face with them.
“Buhari, you once claimed that you will crush us in three months. How can you crush us?
“The military lied that they have confiscated our arms, that we have been chased out of our territories.
“We are alive, I am alive, this is my voice, more audible than it was before. This is Shekau.”
The military has claimed victory over the sect in recent times,” he said.
In a statement issued on Saturday, Sani Usman, spokesperson of the
Army, said the insurgents were “falling to federal might” and the fight
against insurgency was “gaining momentum”.
Usman also said 139 Boko Haram captives had been freed, while eight insurgents surrendered to the Army.
Shekau, however did not only dismiss the claims, he also discredited the
alleged peace deal the Federal Government said it was entering with the
group.
Speaking to the Nigerian community during his recent visit to France,
Buhari said: “The government is negotiating with some of Boko Haram’s
leadership.
“Let them bring all the girls and then, we will be prepared to
negotiate. I will allow them to come back to Nigeria or to be absorbed
into the community.”
Only on Friday did Abdullahi Ganduje, Kano State governor, cautioned the
Federal Government to apply caution in dealing with the group.
Meanwhile, insurgents occupying areas of Mandara mountains around
villages— Jibe, Disha, Patawe, Kwatara and Hambagda, were said to have
killed 17 people, including a woman and her grown-up daughter for not
having food to give the insurgents in exchange for their lives.
Spokesperson of the Traders’ Association in Gwoza, Mallam Mohammed
Umar, in an interview with Nigerian Tribune on Sunday, said they now
bring food to pay for their lives to pass in between Gwoza and
Limankara or had to be escorted by military to cross the Gwoza-Limankara
route.
According to him, the 11-kilometre road from Gwoza to Limankara was
the only road they had to come home from Mubi and as traders, they were
finding it difficult to bring in goods to Gwoza, as they have to wait at
Madagali for troops to come from Gwoza to escort them.
He said: “Sometimes, we wait for one week or 10 days with the
military at Madagali before the troops from Gwoza comes to lead us
through the Limankara-Gwoza route, otherwise the insurgents would come
out and collect all the food items.
“Our problem is that, if we are bringing tomatoes, we usually end up
with rotten ones, because it cannot wait for one week or 10 days before
the troops come.”
Mohammed said aside the traders, any other person who wants to go
home must carry some food items for the insurgents or he may risk his
life in the process.
Asked what he has observed in Gwoza in the last six months since the
liberation of Gwoza town by Nigerian troops, he said, “apart from us
(traders), who usually bring food, only soldiers and a few returnees
are in Gwoza town. Nobody is living in the villages around Gwoza, except
the Boko Haram who are using bicycles now due to lack of fuel.”
He said “it was the military that is doing everything now in Gwoza
for the returnees. They are taking care of the sick people, because
there is no doctor. They also also the ones teaching children in
schools, because there is no teacher. They do almost everything and we
commend them for that. A lot of our people who ran away and are living
in Mubi wants to return home, because those who are workers and have
rented apartment in Mubi, they want to return home, because their rent
had expired and they have no money to renew their rent.”
According to him, two kilometres outside the main Gwoza town was
still very dangerous except for the military who were always in convoy
and shooting to scare away the insurgents as they move in or out of the
main Gwoza town.
He said as a group, they were soliciting government assistance to
help those who want to return home with tents, as most of those who
returned were finding it difficult, as most of their houses were
destroyed in the cause of fighting to liberate the town, which was the
former Caliphate of the Boko Haram.
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