The United States of America has expressed doubts over claims by the Nigerian military that the Islamic sect , Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau had been killed in recent clashes with soldiers.
Speaking with reporters yesterday a senior State Department official said“ the Nigerian government has announced several times that the head of Boko Haram was dead, and every single time, we find out that it is not true.
“What I read recently is that Shekau’s lookalike or some Shekau impostor was killed and then I read later that maybe, Shekau himself was killed. I don’t put a lot of weight on those stories until we see more evidence,” the official added, asking not to be identified.
The Nigerian Defense Ministry had, on Wednesday, released a statement claiming that Shekau was dead after one Bashir Mohammed, was killed during recent clashes with troops.
They further stated that he was a lookalike who had been impersonating him in videos.
But analysts have also dismissed the report, saying it was a propaganda. The State Department official equally maintained that Boko Haram was still carrying out attacks.
The official held that the United States remains committed in trying to find some 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by the militant group in April, which he acknowledged was “a huge challenge” stressing that “many of them were taken into the forest and given the long time in the hands of the terrorists, it is possible that many of them have been taken to other locations.”
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