SHEKAU'S DEATH CONTROVERSY : ANOTHER VERSION EMERGES

A new report has emerged that alleges the Cameroonian security officers, the gendarmes, were responsible for Shekau's death, and not the Joint Task Force (JTF) as earlier claimed.

On August 19, 2013, first statements appeared claiming that Shekau might be dead due to gunshot wounds received from JTF. The task force allegedly did this without the permission of the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) in order to keep the army from taking credit for its efforts.

The DHQ, in their turn, refused to confirm or deny the statement and controversy continues to trail the JTF; the Presidency itself has passed the ball back to the military, claiming that only the military has the final say on it.

Lt. Col. Sagir Musa, the JTF spokesman, had claimed in his e-mail statement that Shekau had died from the mortal wounds sustained in one of the recent clashes with the military and hurriedly rushed to a Cameroonian village where he eventually died.

However, a highly placed security chief, whose name cannot be disclosed in print, has faulted the claim made by Lt. Col. Sagir Musa. According to this source, although Shekau is dead it was not the JTF that was responsible for his death; instead it might be the Cameroonian gendarmes who were policing their border that killed him.

"Let me begin by telling you that there is a strong indication that Abubakar Shekau is dead but he was not killed by the JTF. If he was shot by our boys, they would not let him escape. This is why I know the JTF was misbehaving with that funny statement claiming responsibility. Where were they after shooting Shekau and they allowed a man who had suffered such a mortal wound escape? That is not possible. But with fresh revelations coming up, there is a possibility that Shekau was shot and killed by the Cameroonian gendarmes who were keeping watch over their border," the security official said.

He explained that Nigerian security operatives were making contacts with their Cameroonian counterparts with a view to establishing the circumstance that had led to the death of Shekau and the whereabouts of his corpse.