It has been revealed that the leader of the Boko Haram sect, Abubakar Shekau, is known by an alias.
In a maiden briefing at the National Information Centre, the director of defence information, Major General Chris Olukolade said that Abubakar Shekau is not the real name of the leader of the sect, but only a title.
Olukolade spoke on “Shekau” in Abuja at the briefing which had information officers of the State Security Service, Mrs. Marylyn Ogar; the Nigerian Police Force, Mr. Frank Mba; the Directorate of Defence Information Olukolade and the Director General of the National orientation Agency (NOA) Mr. Mike Omeri in attendance
Olukolade said many of the information provided to the military about the abduction of the schoolgirls were misleading, adding that a good part of the information were concocted to unsettle the populace.
He said: “Talking about the personality that has been presenting himself as head of that group, besides knowing the fact that the term Shekau is more of a title than a name, there are many issues around it that makes it still fake. I don’t want to get into the details of that.
He added that pictures and video being circulated on the internet were recycled for mischievous purposes, as he said some of the pictures were activities of what took place in Central African Republic (CAR) and it is being presented as a recent event in Nigeria.
He said it is the aim of the the terrorists to unsettle the populace and promote fear using these concocted images.
He said: “We want to assure Nigerians that the institutions of state are still functioning and still capable of assuring them their security, regardless of the activities of the terrorists.
“A the moment, we have two divisions of the Nigerian army infantry devoted on looking for these girls, and they are all operating in the nethermost part of the federation contiguous to various borders. There are also other military and security agencies located close to border location in the north and south. All our border locations have been activated to operate at their optimum in looking out for these children.”
He added that The Nigerian Air Force has flown over 350 sorties with a view to ensuring that not just surveillance but air patrol is sustained on a near 24-hour basis over locations that information has indicated as likely position of these girls.
“The facilities of the Nigerian Army signals as well as all the communication facilities of the Nigerian Police and all the services have been devoted in coordinating this search and ensuring that information gets back to the control post where all the operations are being monitored and guided,” he said.
