There is grumbling among senior officers in the Nigerian military over the indifference of the United States (US) government to the ongoing counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations in the North-east, with some aggrieved that the US is yet to fulfill its promise on the bounty placed on the Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau.
In June 2012, the US Department of State had designated Shekau a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” under Executive Order 13224.
The following year, the Boko Haram leader was declared a wanted man by the US. The country went further to place a $7 million bounty on Shekau for anyone who could provide information leading to his arrest or killing.
However, this seems not to be the case as the US is yet to make any statement on the reported killing of the Boko Haram leader or his impostor, as claimed by the military.
According to a highly-placed military source in the Defence Headquarters (DHQ), the US is yet to even acknowledge that Shekau and his impostor had been killed, choosing to remain indifferent.
The source said: “The US strategy has been targeted at first of all undermining and then demystifying the Nigerian military and would never acknowledge that we killed Shekau.
“Already, you can see that the US and Western powers have chosen not to give us credit for the killing of that Shekau impostor, Mohammed Bashir.
“This is clearly evident in most of their media reports where they still hold on to the claims by the Camerounian forces that they killed Mohammed Bashir.”
When contacted on the issue, the Director of Defence Information (DDI), Major-General Chris Olukolade, said the US was yet to acknowledge the killing of Shekau and or his impostor.
He however added that the question of who should be given the bounty would be resolved amicably when the US makes its position known.
“I think all the issues raised revolve around the matter of whether or not the Americans believe or are convinced that the characters are actually dead. Then all other issues will be naturally resolved,” he said.
In recent days, the issue has also been raised by Nigerians via the social media when some wanted to know if the bounty had been paid and to whom it was paid.
Others who commented on it on Twitter were of the view that the US government had remained silent on the bounty because it was yet to be convinced that the Boko Haram leader or his impostor had been killed.
Some posts said the US government was being cautious and might be carrying out its own investigations to verify the facts in order to avoid a situation whereby another video pops up on the internet with someone else claiming to be Shekau.
However, a security expert who spoke to THISDAY said the obvious silence of the US government on the Shekau’s killing was “deliberate and strategic to their course”.
“Is America waiting to be informed officially that Shekau has been killed before they make good their promise? Terrorists die everyday and they get to know like every member of the public,” he said.
By ThisDay
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