Shekau Not Killed By JTF; The Controversies Continue

A new report has emerged that alleges
the Cameroonian security officers, the
gendarmes, were responsible for Shekau’s
death, and not the Joint Task Force (JTF)
as earlier claimed.
On August 19, 2013, first statements
appeared claiming that Shekau might be
dead due to gunshot wounds received from
JTF. The task force allegedly did this
without the permission of the Defence
Headquarters (DHQ) in order to keep the
army from taking credit for its efforts.
The DHQ, in their turn, refused to confirm
or deny the statement and controversy
continues to trail the JTF; the Presidency
itself has passed the ball back to the
military, claiming that only the military
has the final say on it.
Lt. Col. Sagir Musa, the JTF spokesman, had
claimed in his e-mail statement that Shekau
had died from the mortal wounds sustained
in one of the recent clashes with the
military and hurriedly rushed to a
Cameroonian village where he eventually
died.
However, a highly placed security chief,
whose name cannot be disclosed in print,
has faulted the claim made by Lt. Col. Sagir
Musa. According to this source, although
Shekau is dead it was not the JTF that was
responsible for his death; instead it might
be the Cameroonian gendarmes who were
policing their border that killed him.
“Let me begin by telling you that there is a
strong indication that Abubakar Shekau is
dead but he was not killed by the JTF. If he
was shot by our boys, they would not let
him escape. This is why I know the JTF was
misbehaving with that funny statement
claiming responsibility. Where were they
after shooting Shekau and they allowed a
man who had suffered such a mortal
wound escape? That is not possible. But
with fresh revelations coming up, there is a
possibility that Shekau was shot and killed
by the Cameroonian gendarmes who were
keeping watch over their border,” the
security official said.
He explained that Nigerian security
operatives were making contacts with their
Cameroonian counterparts with a view to
establishing the circumstance that had led
to the death of Shekau and the whereabouts
of his corpse.