Who’s really lying about Boko Haram fight?

Shekau, who hasn’t been seen since February 2015, made the comments via an audio message released on social media this month.

“They lied that they have confiscated our arms, that we have been chased out of our territories, that we are in disarray,” Shekau said

“We are alive, I am alive, this is my voice, more audible than it was before. This is Shekau. Buhari is a liar and has deceived you. The army spokesman is also lying.

He and his foot-soldiers always run helter-skelter whenever we come face to face with them. Buhari, you once claimed that you will crush us in three months. How can you crush us?” he asked.

In reaction to the comments, Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai called Shekau a “noisemaker” while Buhari made no response.

Shekau has been reported dead so many times that the Nigerian military finally gave up on finding him saying that 'it's not a priority.

The major problem with Nigeria’s fight against Boko Haram is the lack of truthful and adequate information. Every attack comes with a variety of casualty figures most of which are never confirmed by the military.

In recent times, the military has claimed a string of victories over the sect and vowed to beat the three-month deadline given by Buhari. The media has been flooded with photos of jubilant soldiers “clearing Boko Haram camps” and arrested terror suspects.

Hardly does a week go by without a statement from the army announcing the impending annihilation of Boko Haram.

Army Spokesperson, Sani Usman responded to the September 20 bombings, which killed more than 50 people in Maiduguri, Borno State, by saying that the attacks showed Boko Haram’s “increasing desperation.”

It’s hard to deny that the general military attitude towards Boko Haram has taken a positive turn but all the media hype makes it seem like the Nigerian Army is running a public relations campaign instead of a war against terror.

And if the end of Boko Haram is truly near, why is the Nigerian government negotiating with the terrorists? Why haven’t the suicide attacksstopped? Why haven’t the arrested suspects revealed anything about the sect’s command structure? Why haven’t we found out who Boko Haram’s sponsors are? Are these scrawny men truly the ones who have been terrorizing the North-East and indeed the entire country?

All these and more are the pertinent questions which must surely be answered before we can claim to have succeeded against the sect.

On Abubakar Shekau’s part, there’s obviously something fishy going on because Boko Haram’s maniacal leader loves the limelight too much to be hiding away from it willingly.

Something big has changed in the dynamics of Boko Haram and it’s not yet clear if that’s good or bad news.

The sect pledged its allegiance to Middle-Eastern counterpart, the Islamic State (ISIS) in March and various reports have it that there’s already an active partnership in place.

Whatever the case may be, the Nigerian government owes its people the truth and if it can’t give that, it should at least spare them the lies.

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Watch video of terrorists fleeing from Nigerian soldiers below: