BENIN-GOVERNOR Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has said that the people of the state were proud of the invaluable services of the Nigerian Armed Forces to the peace and security of the state and the nation, especially in defeating the Boko Haram terrorists.
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Nigeria’s military said it may have killed Abubakar Shekau, the disputed leader of the Boko Haram, during an air strike on the Sambisa forest in the northeastern state of Borno on August 19.
Boko Haram has been fighting regional governments for years as it aims to create its own Islamic state in Africa.
The fighter calls on Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari to agree to a prisoner swap, in which Chibok girls would be exchanged for Boko Haram militants held in the cities of Abuja, Maiduguri, and Lagos. It said lack of adequate information stopped either sides from addressing the issue.
The statement said the troops killed several of terrorists including two senior commanders that led the attack.
“There is nothing more demoralizing, more destructive, and more disempowering to any citizen than the belief that the system is created to fail them”, Kerry said.
To improve the situation requires “rebuilding trust in the government”, Kerry said, vowing that the White House would continue to provide military and humanitarian support to Nigeria, a country home to over 170 million that is struggling to provide for people in its war-torn north.
The spokesman for the Nigerian army, Sani Usman, announced that Abubakar Shekau was “fatally wounded”, August 19, during a air strike on their stronghold in the Sambisa forest in north-eastern Nigeria. But only a week later, Shekau surfaced in a video posted on social media, ridiculing suggestions of his death and looking more composed and energetic than in previous appearances.
“Make no mistake, we do not have to be prisoners of these extremists, they can be eliminated”, Mr Kerry said.
The top United States diplomat, who was in Kenya on Monday, is expected to discuss the Boko Haram insurgency, fighting corruption and boosting Nigeria’s moribund economy that has been pummelled by the drop in global oil prices. The militant Islamist group had no immediate response to Tuesday’s announcement by the military.
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Shekau has also been embroiled in a leadership battle that may have resulted from the increasing ties between Boko Haram and the Islamic State.
