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The United States Department of State has announced a $7 million or N2.5 billion reward for anyone that provides credible information that will lead to the arrest of Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau.
Rewards for Justice Programme (RJP), the counterterrorism rewards programme of the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, disclosed this yesterday in a tweet.
“United States Department of State offers a reward up to $7m for information leading to the arrest of the terrorist, Abubakar Shekau, leader of Boko Haram,” the tweet reads.
The U.S. had placed a bounty of the same sum on Shekau in June 2013 after tagged Shekau a “specially designated global terrorist” under executive order 13224 on June 21, 2012.
Relatedly, the Defence Headquarters yesterday Shekau, has been constantly surrounding himself with innocent people as human shield.
Acting Defence Spokesman, Brig.-Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, who disclosed this in an interview with The Guardian yesterday in Abuja, said the Nigerian military has since declared Shekau a wanted criminal for committing acts of terrorism against the Nigerian state.
He said, “That is the reason he is constantly on the run and surrounding himself with innocent and vulnerable people as human shield. He is a coward very much afraid of death, but pushing his senseless followers to die.”