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The Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, has given Ibrahim Attahiru, theatre commander of operation Lafiya Dole, a 40-day ultimatum to capture Abubakar Shekau, leader of the Boko Haram sect.
Army spokesman, Sani Usman, said in a statement that Buratai directed Attahiru to use all arsenal at his disposal to find Shekau.
The statement reads: “Today, Friday 21st July, 2017, the chief of army staff, Nigerian army, lieutenant general Tukur Yusufu Buratai, has directed the theatre commander, operation lafiya dole, major general Ibrahim Attahiru, to capture Abubakar Shekau, the so-called and self-styled leader of Boko Haram terrorists group, dead or alive,” it read
“The theatre commander has further been directed to do so within 40 days.
“He is to employ all arsenal at the disposal of the theatre command to smoke out Shekau wherever he is hiding in Nigeria.
“The general public is please requested to also assist and volunteer information that would lead to the accomplishment of this task.”
The military has declared Shekau dead on many occasions but the militant leader has always debunked the report.
In a video in June, Shekau showed how insurgents sacked a military post at the outskirts of Maiduguri, Borno state.
In the 33-minute video, Shekau displayed ammunition and camouflage among other items seized from fleeing soldiers.
“This is just the beginning,” Shekau had said.
While mocking the military for going after them in Sambisa forest, the leader of the insurgents claimed that they were somewhere within Maiduguri.
Since then, several bomb blasts have killed many in and around Maiduguri.
This week, the sect reportedly released a video where they showed 10 military and policewomen belived to have been abducted from a police/military convoy in Borno.