Ahmad Salkida, Nigerian journalist with deep knowledge of the Boko Haram insurgency, says Abubakar Shekau, wanted leader of the terrorists, has groomed thousands of young men and women to continue with the struggle if he gets killed by the Nigerian Army.
Shekau said in a new video released on Wednesday that he was tired of the calamity and was ready to die so he could go and rest in paradise, prompting speculations that he may be nearing his end.
However, Salkida has moved to douse any such feeling. In a series of tweets, he cautioned the pubic that it would amount to ignorance to assume that Shekau was admitting defeat.
“If we consider one of Shekau’s lines in his last video, literally, that he is tired of being around and would prefer death than this life, as a sign of complete defeat, then we are still VERY ignorant of the group’s corrosive ideology, which is, ‘to kill or be killed,'” he said.
“Shekau has groomed men and women in their 1000’s that even he can no longer keep in line; many within the network see him as an obstacle to what they would have accomplished if he was gone long ago. No doubt, he remains the face of the insurgency, but no longer the driver of it.”
The insurgency, according to him, has developed beyond Nigeria, as “the stakes, the actors, are becoming multinational.
“The #LakeChad region & the #Sahel is being reset to become the new global terror fields & poverty, climate change & secessionism in the region support this Jihadi quest,” Salkida continued.
“Today, we have the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati Wal-Jihad, known as Boko Haram that is metamorphosing to #ISWAP that harbour wider regional ambitions. #ISWAP’s desire to be entrenched in the region precedes the other faction’s obsession for photo Ops.”
He also carpeted the Nigerian government for its “unintelligent approach to fighting insurgency, just as he reeled out proper ways of approach the anti-terrorism war.
His words: “No doubt, Nigeria recently stood on its feet to push back the insurgency, but it did that unintelligently, you can’t drive off flies from your room when your doors are wide open. You can’t take away guns & ignore the motivations for violence. The way out of this is as follows:
“Hold on, don’t get me wrong that the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati Wal-Jihad is completely defeated, they remain potent as an insurgency and more dangerous as far as terrorism is concerned, but they are no longer in the same league with #ISWAP.
“Strong and uncompromising regional efforts, is missing. Investment in intelligence same as hardware, this is missing. Improve good governance that fights poverty, climate change and support education, this is likewise lacking. Therefore, the road ahead is long and arduous.”
1/ If we consider one of Shekau’s lines in his last video literally, that he is tired of being around and would prefer death than this life, as a sign of complete defeat, then we are still VERY ignorant of the group’s corrosive ideology, which is, ‘to kill or be killed.’
— Ahmad Salkida (@ContactSalkida) February 8, 2018
2/ Shekau has groomed men & women in their 1000’s that even he can no longer keep in line, many within the network see him as an obstacle to what they would have accomplished if he was gone long ago. No doubt, he remains the face of the insurgency, but no longer the driver of it.
— Ahmad Salkida (@ContactSalkida) February 8, 2018