26th
September, 2014
PRESS RELEASE:
DEATH OF SHEKAU: IS BOKO HARAM DEAD?
The Nigerian military
yesterday confirmed the killing of one Muhammed Bashir, the replica of Abubakar
Shekau, who had allegedly been mimicking the leader of Boko Haram. According to
the military, Abubakar Shekau himself had been killed a year ago in a
confrontation with soldiers fighting Boko Haram insurgents.
The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) regards the killing of
Muhammed Bashir as a feather in the cap of the Nigerian military. It is no mean feat to get close enough to the leader of deadly insurgents
and to succeed in killing him. The Nigerian Army should also be commended for
achieving this feat in spite of its limitations which include sabotage, acute
lack of supplies, complete absence of motivation and a criminal deprivation of
arms.
MURIC recalls the
atrocities of Shekau and his alleged replica under whose brutish leadership Boko
Haram unleashed terror on the people of the North East, bringing untold
hardship and grinding the economy to a halt. Nonetheless, we regret his death
on the battle field as this does not adequately demystify him as the monster
behind the assassination of more than three North Eastern Emirs, the killing of
scores of Islamic scholars and Christian clerics as well as the attack on the
late Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero.
We regret that Shekau’s death or that of Muhammed Bashir
has elevated the duo in the den of terrorists to the lofty status of martyrs. Alive
and in chains, they would have served bitter lessons to rebellious subjects,
enemies of peace and apostles of death and destruction.
But what next after
the death of these two terrorists? It is quite unfortunate that the only lesson
men learn from history is that they learn nothing from history. We charge the
Federal Government to learn some lessons from the killing of Bin Laden whose
death merely fuelled the rise of terrorism and gave birth to ISIS and Boko
Haram. FG must therefore be told point blank that it is not yet Uhuru.
Abubakar Shekau may be dead. Muhammed Bashir may have been
put under. Boko Haram is still alive and kicking. FG therefore has a Herculean task before it. To kill Boko Haram is a task
that must be done. What steps must FG take to ensure that Boko Haram is dead
and buried?
MURIC suggests the
following:
1.
Soldiers battling Boko Haram insurgents must be adequately catered for in
terms of welfare, medicare and the relations left behind by fallen soldiers;
2.
The procurement by the military and prompt supply of state-of-the-art
weapons and equipments to soldiers confronting insurgents must be FG’s priority
from now on;
3. The revitalization
of the economy of the North East in particular and the whole North in general
and the provision of jobs for hitherto idle youths have become mandatory in
order to prevent similar occurrence in future;
4.
FG must, on the basis of equal rights, justice and fair play, establish as
a matter of urgency, a Nothern States Development Board and a Ministry of
Northern Affairs in the same manner that there now exists similar institutions
in the Niger Delta and
5.
In view of submissions by experts that Boko Haram is a fallout of bad
governance and socio-economic injustice, governments at all levels must
henceforth ensure that justice is done to all its citizens.
It is not over until it is over.
Professor Ishaq
Akintola,
Director,
Muslim Rights Concern
(MURIC)
