The Nigerian army has been lying to us over and over, and they are back with more

The Nigerian Army has been working tirelessly to put an end to the menace that is Boko Haram and its activities. Kudos to these brave fighters as they were able to kill some leaders of the sect and “fatally wound” the main guy, Abubakar Shekau in an airstrike on Friday. The same Abubakar Shekau that the Nigerian Army has killed about four or five times in the last 7 years. The stale questions comes to the fore again. Who is lying to who? Is this another gimmick by the Nigerian Army to raise our collective hopes as a nation and make us feel safe?  Or is Shekau the proverbial cat with 9 lives meaning we have 4 more kills to go?

Here’s 5 takeaways from the Nigerian Army’s latest conquest:

Nigerians can no longer be disturbed about Shekau: The Nigerian Army after selling sequels to this blockbuster story has finally lost its plot and many Nigerians have also lost interest. Ever since the news of the fatal wound to Shekau’s shoulder surfaced, social media critics have largely ignored it. Under normal conditions, defeating leaders of a terrorist sect is a major feat, the kind that would dominate the news for days. Considering the President is yet to make a statement to confirm the news, why should the rest of us attach any relevance to it?

We do not believe the Nigerian Army now and probably never will: It is a huge disappointment that the major security force in the country has lost the confidence that the citizens used to have in it. The Nigerian Army is unfortunately characterized  by lies, deception and propaganda. The military killed Shekau in 2009 but the man reappeared on a video shared on the internet making a mockery of the military and reinforcing the sect’s purpose. In 2013, the Nigerian Army spokesman announced in uncertainty the second death of Shekau in a shootout between the terrorists and soldiers. Between 2013 and now, there’s been speculations of possible deaths of this one man. Now that the narrative has taken a new turn from a dead Shekau to a fatally wounded Shekau, Nigerians maintain the stance of disbelief.

What victory is this?: In the statement that was released on Tuesday, 22nd August, the Army spokesman claimed the airstrike was carried out on Friday night in a village called Taye in Borno state. Meanwhile, there is news making rounds that the “defeated” Boko Haram sect attacked Kuburvwa, another village in the same state killing 11 people and raping women. It was reported that most of the men in the community have fled to the surrounding bushes. But we thought Boko Haram commanders were two nights before this? Or are we being made to believe that this is a reprisal attack? We will not know what the truth is until the Army spokesman comes forward to speak. Or this one will again be swept under the carpet like most of the recent attacks.

The international community has given up on us: If not yet, but they soon will. The recently released statement about the airstrike has been widely reported by the international media. TIME magazine, Daily Mail, Independent to name a few. Political and Security analyst, Ryan Cummings has shared several tweets on the news too. But the common feature in all of these stories is the timeline of the previous deceptions that come right after they report the airstrike. They have a responsibility to report news about the sect and this is obviously the only reason why they still do. Otherwise no media organisation wants to be associated with peddling false information over and over.

The only person who can put this matter to rest is the man himself, Abubakar Shekau. Not that we’re pessimistic or anything but we expect that a video confirming all our fears will soon be released. But wait, is Shekau a name or a title? Are we dealing with one or multiple individuals?

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