'Shekau' s death, not end of insurgency'

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Abuja - A security expert, Mike Ejiofor, says the death of Mohammed Bashir, alias Abubakar Shekau and the subsequent surrender by some terrorists are indications that the war against insurgency is being won.

Ejiofor, the Chairman of Apex and Safety Consultants, said in Abuja that the development would also demoralise Shekau’s followers.

He, however, cautioned that the death of Shekau should not be taken to mean the end of insurgency in the country.

"What I will say is that the war will be reduced to tolerable level because terrorism is not something you can wipe out one day.

"You know the insurgents operate in cells, they do not have a central command and control unit.

"So taking out the major leader of the bigger cell will only have some psychological effects on the smaller cells.

"But that does not mean that because Shekau is dead the war is over,’’ he said.

Ejiofor stressed that the death of the first Shekau, sometime in May 2013 did not end insurgency but it was intensified by the fake Shekau and his gang.

"Again, we are most likely to see another Shekau coming out to say yes, Shekau is not dead.

"Because if the terrorists come out openly to admit that their leader is dead, it is going to have psychological effect on them.’’

Also read: Military claim to kill Boko Haram leader

Ejiofor attributed the recent feat in the fight against terrorism to strengthening of the military by government and its resolve to provide security preparatory to the 2015 general elections.

"You will also recall that before the President travelled to the U.S. for the UN General Assembly meeting, he did mention that by October, this war will virtually come to an end.

"To some an extent, I agree with him.

"I think the reason for the obvious optimism on the part of the president is that the military has been re-equipped and re-engineered to take on the challenges of Boko Haram.

On amnesty for surrendered terrorists, he said they should be made to face the law as they had not taken advantage of it when the government offered amnesty.

"To my mind, we have past the stage of granting amnesty to those who are surrendering because the government let its window open for a very long time for negotiations,’’ he said.

The security expert commended the Senate for approving the one billion dollars loan sought by the president to prosecute the war.

According to him, this will boost the morale of the military, adding that terrorism was not a local but a global war.