Shekau's 'death': We reserve our comment, says FG

The Federal Government has said it will not
get involved in the controversy over the
military Joint Task Force claim that the leader
of the violent Islamic sect, Boko Haram,
Abubakar Shekau, might have died after
being fatally wounded during a gun duel
with the Nigerian Army.
The JTF spokesman, Lt.-Col. Sagir Musa, had
said in a statement that Shekau sustained
serious gunshot wounds in an encounter
with the troops in one of their camps at
Sambisa Forest on June 30, 2013 and that it
was believed that he was dead.
Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku,
on Wednesday, said the Federal
Government's position since the declaration
of state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno
and Yobe states was to allow the military
carry out their operations and manage
information emanating from the operations
without interference.
Maku said it was the government's view that
the military should be allowed to tell its story
without undue "political comments" by
government officials.
He said, "You will notice that since the
President proclaimed the state of emergency
three months ago, we have kept political
comments out of it. We decided that it is
better for the military to tell their story and
that is why I have not spoken on it.
"We want to remove this security operation
from any misunderstanding, especially from
politicians. As a government, it is our
operation but the most important thing is to
allow the military tell the story of what is
happening.
"From the story you and I have read, it is
very clear that this state of emergency has
achieved a lot of result for which all
Nigerians are proud of the performance of
our military and security services."
The minister however said the information
released by security agencies on the
possible death of the sect leader was a
morale booster for Nigerians and the
military.
He said the implication was that security
forces were closing in on the insurgents.
He asked Nigerians to continue to pray for
the security operatives so that they could
continue to succeed in their bid to rid the
nation of terrorists.
He said, "Relating to the story (Shekau's
possible killing) that we have read, I think it
is better we leave it at that. These people are
on the run and we will allow the military to
tell the story.
"The military said that it would appear that
in one of their operations, the leader of the
insurgents was mortally wounded and they
were rushing him from place to place and
they believe that he could indeed be dead.
There is no question of losing confidence. It
should give us more confidence.
"What it means is that the security forces are
closing up on some of the kingpins of this
murderous group that has denied
thousands of Nigerians their lives. Some of
the key leaders have been pronounced
dead."
The minister said that normalcy was
gradually returning to troubled northern
states as a result of efforts of security forces.
He said many parts of Borno State that had
already come under siege had been
reclaimed and the militants dislodged.

Source: Punchng