New lead emerges on Shekau, Chibok girls’ whereabouts

By our correspondent

Fresh insight emerged yesterday suggesting the current location of the leader of Boko Haram insurgent group, Abubakar Shekau, according to a lead by a Global Counter Terrorism & Organized Crime Expert.
David Otto, CMAS – Global Counter Terrorism & Organized Crime Expert and Founder of the conflict resolution programme based in the UK released a paper yesterday which also gave an update on the current travails of the remaining abducted Chibok schoolgirls and Dapchi schoolgirls.
Otto, quoting sources also revealed the permanent hiding place of Abubakar Shekau who is said to be in a protected location within the thick and rocky forest of Firgi.
“Shekau relocated to Firgi forest after the Nigerian Army under leadership of Lt.Gen. Yusufu Tukur Buratai — ‘Operation Lafiya Dole’ overran Shekau’s hideout in Sambisa forest in December 2016 and again as recently as March 2020.
“The erratic and bloodthirsty leader is protected by 10 loyal special fighters. He retains possession of about 40 Toyota Hilux mounted with Anti-Aircraft guns, 2 Armoured tanks and 2 APCs, all carefully concealed under the thickness of the Firgi forest. His selected location provides absolute camouflage from the aerial radar of the Nigerian Air Force reconnaissance. Shekau sleeps in refurbished deep natural tunnels protected by heavy rocks with mines planted at vulnerable locations. His final location is only accessible by foot and only a selected handful of his body guards are allowed to enter his last dungeon.
“Abubakar Shekau is an example of the proverbial cat with 9 lives and remains the most wanted Boko Haram leader by the Nigerian Army, regional and international states. No doubt, he will be replaced by another leader when he dies or killed. The Chibok girls and Leah Sharibu remain the most searched for girls in the history of terrorist mass kidnap. As far as a long term and sustainable Counter insurgency (COIN) strategy is concerned, the focus of the Nigerian government and regional MNJTF should be on releasing and rescuing all captives while ensuring that current battlefield ground and aerial efforts are not undermined from within and without,” the paper said.
According to Otto, all the remaining Chibok Girls in the custody of Boko Haram, JAS faction, have converted to Islam and changed their names permanently.
“This is to escape any chances of being identified and rescued from captivity by the Nigerian security and intelligence apparatus from jihadist remote camps in the Sambisa Forest – North East Nigeria.
“Impeccable sources with inside knowledge of the Al-Qaeda and ISIS linked Jihadist operations in the region confirmed that about 10 of the abducted Chibok secondary school girls currently camped at Garin-Maluma and Sabil-Huda had ‘voluntarily’ converted to Islam and selected new Muslim names.
“Converting to Islam requires a change of names but in the case of the Chibok girls, their identities have been changed entirely to prevent any planned identification and rescue mission from the Nigerian government. Some of the common Muslim names they selected for themselves include Maryam, Falmata, Zara, Rukkayya and Summayya among others.
“Almost all of the abducted Chibok girls are now married with children (some as many as 4) to some influential Boko Haram commanders – some for the second or third time after their jihadist husbands were neutralised in battle or other conflict circumstances. After 6 years in captivity, there is a strong case to suggest that the remaining Chibok girls have accepted the lifestyle in the Sambisa Forest as the new normal and adapted to the new environment – drawing similarities to an advanced form of ‘Stockholm syndrome,” Otto said.
Regarding the Dapchi schoolgirls who were kidnapped in February 2018, 110 of them, by the Boko Haram splinter faction -Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP), Otto recalled how they were abducted in Chibok style from government science and technical secondary and school, Dapchi in neighbouring Yobe State.
“A quick negotiated intervention supported by local actors, state and Federal authorities, led to the immediate release of all the ‘Dapchi girls’ except Leah Sharibu, the lone Christian student who refused to be converted to Islam. Sources close to ISWAP faction say ISIS leadership had advised the new ISWAP Wali – Abu Musab AlBarnawi (Habib) that all the Muslim girls be released without delay.
“The Nigerian Army that had been mobilised to search and rescue the abducted girls was drafted in to stand down and give ISWAP fighters a safe passage to return the young school girls. In an effort to secure hearts and minds of the local Muslim population, ISWAP fighters who accompanied the girls took advantage and held religious sermons with the local population and told them that the western countries, the government of Nigeria and anyone who supports them were their real target and enemies, not the local population. The Federal government of Nigeria, security services and state authorities have consistently promised to rescue all those in Boko Haram and ISWAP captivity,” he said.