The Defence Headquarters has opted to keep mum over the alleged death of Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau.
Shekau is said to have died after surrendering to Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters.
He reportedly blew himself up on Wednesday after his base in the Sambisa forest in Borno State was raided by ISWAP insurgents.
The group were said to have tracked Shekau to his stronghold and engaged his bodyguards in a gun battle before venturing to capture the Boko Haram leader.
After his bodyguards were subdued, Shekau allegedly surrendered and was asked to step down and order his group to declare their loyalty to ISWAP, online platform Humangle reported.
Apparently opposed to the idea, the Boko Haram leader, according to the report, blew himself up, killing some others around him in the process.
But in a statement on Thursday, the DHQ didn’t mention whether or not the terrorist was still alive.
Director, Defence Media Operations, Brig.-Gen. Bernard Onyeuko, instead said troops of the armed forces would not back down on their resolve to neutralize all terrorists, bandits and other criminal elements in the six geo-political zones.
He also stressed that combined efforts of the military and other security agencies had demonstrated that troops are ready to lay down their lives to protect Nigeria.
He insisted that despite enormous challenges being faced in the war zones, the military would ensure current security challenges bedevilling the country are tamed and peace is restored to all troubled zones.
“We will continue to sustain the offensive posture and will not relent until peace is restored to every troubled zone in Nigeria. The general public is also assured of our commitment to protect our economic assets anywhere,” Onyeuko said.
He added the Chief of Defence Staff and Service Chiefs had in the last few months conducted several operational visits to various theatres of operation, interacted with commanders, troops and other stakeholders – a development that has boosted troops’ morale.
Shekau had taken over the leadership of Boko Haram following the death of its founder, Mohammed Yusuf, after which he launched a full-scale campaign against the Nigerian state.
In 2016, a faction of the terrorist group broke away from Boko Haram to form ISWAP after pledging allegiance to the Islamic State (IS).
The military had at several times claimed to have killed Shekau, but the terrorist leader had released videos after such claims to denounce it and insisted that he was alive.
