Shekau: Now that it is finished

BY MUSTAPHA ALI

I want to use this special season of the 2018 New Year to write this open letter to you and the few adherents, you are still brainwashing, shielding and hypnotizing to feebly sustain the visit on humanity with erratic insurgency atrocities in some obscure communities in Nigeria’s Northeast. The image your supporters proclaim on cyberspace is far from reality and hence the need to write you this medium.

I have spent the best part of my adult life in Borno state and the Northeast generally. I am aware of the evolution of Boko Haram terrorism, a resentful, aberrant and inhuman religious sect, you have led for years. I am also aware of Boko Haram insurgency’s various stages of metamorphosis; from a small sect to when it enlarged and became untamable or very wild and the ghost of its formal self now.

I equally know of the period when you blossomed in atrocities; recklessly bombing public places, security formations, schools and marketplaces etc. There was a time your gang victoriously held Nigerians captive, by invading communities and villages, killing and abducting innocent citizens unhindered. I know of when you captured swathes of territories or communities in Nigeria; deposed traditional rulers, appointed your own Emirs and foisted your flags in conspicuous places.

Dear Shekau, that was time then, when you publicly boasted of invincible might and strength. The reality now is quite different, since President Muhammadu Buhari became the leader of our great country, Nigeria. His appointment of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusufu Buratai as leader of the Counter-insurgency war has been your greatest setback and nemesis.

A courageous, disciplined, patriotic and outstanding soldier, Gen. Buratai instantly changed the face of the anti-terrorism war. He took the war to you in the forests, mountains, caves and to your Camp Zero in Sambisa Forest in he Northeast. You were lucky enough to escape, but abandoned your copy of the Holy Koran and the Boko Haram insignia, which you cherish so much, symbolizing your defeat and surrender. May I remind you that scores of your fighters were not as lucky as you, as they were consumed in the inferno of this encounter with Nigerian troops.; many surrendered thereafter and have kept surrendering to the Nigerian Army.

Shekau, even a blind man knows you are now a spent force and the sect, a shadow of itself. You have been depleted; you have suffered in irrecoverable damages. That’s why you have been on the run. It’s even difficult for you to appear in recorded videos and brag like before. You neither have physical nor mental stability, to co-ordinate and execute the heinous atrocities on Nigerians and humanity anymore. This reality is clear enough to discern.

As Boko Haram’s factional leader, Abubakar Shekau, you are now unarguably the most flustered and distressed leader of a rebel sect anywhere in the world today. You have lost the capacity to execute your habituated brutality, satanic and vicious brand of terrorism, recklessly bombing, killing and abducting Nigerians as was the experience in the past.

Shekau, you once declared in one of your numerous videos that the Boko Haram battle is finished. It means invariably that you bowed to the supremacy of the Nigerian state and its security forces. In August 2017, your rival leader, Abu Musad Al-Barnawi, had predicted that the Nigerian military will defeat you and your Mujahiddeen (Commanders) who believe in the violent application of Islamic doctrines adopted by your sect. This prediction has come to pass.

It is senseless for you to continue to allow your followers to meet untimely deaths in the hands of the Nigerian military. You have against all sound reasoning continued to feign might and preaching to the remaining few commanders not to surrender. Death has been their reward in the hands of the military and this cruelty to your foot soldiers is very ungodly.

I elect upon myself to counsel you that no wise fighter continues with a losing battle. You are losing Commanders and foot soldiers almost daily in the hands of the Nigerian security forces. It is extremely ridiculous and the earlier, you retrace your steps, the better for you and the few surviving Commanders.

Please save yourself from this discomfort and impending disgrace as the manhunt for you is very strong and widespread. Why deprive yourself and followers who desperately want to renounce your violent ideologies and turn to God? It is never too late, as with genuine repentance, God will forgive your sins and make you appreciate the value of humanity. God has this power and He can even turn them into His messengers in spreading the light of truth and love for humanity.

Let me assure you that you don’t have to be scared to take this move or decision. I trust that the Federal Government and some international organizations will arrange for exit programs for you and your gang of reprobates. This is the most viable option at your disposal now and the earlier you take full advantage of it, the better.

Don’t be misled by any false illusion that the Federal Government and the world are interested in negotiating with your team any longer. This possibility does not exist anymore, as the Nigerian military has taken over the game and are fully in charge.

I wish to reassure you and your few supporters that if you desire to surrender and disappear into exile anytime soon, some humanitarian organizations are willing to assist you with conditions that may be different from your mindset. Be aware that accepting defeat on its strength alone is another sign of your own victory, as I believe it is completely needless to sustain the loss of more foot soldiers in the hands of the Nigerian military.

This is my New Year message to you and your supporters. And I pray you to harken to the voice of reason, as regret is the last wailing of an obstinate fly.