Boko Haram leader wanted 'dead or alive'

Abuja [Nigeria], Feb. 19 (ANI): Nigeria has ordered its military to capture the leader of terrorist organisation Boko Haram "dead or alive".

According to the local media reports, Nigeria's Army Chief Tukur Buratai ordered the troops on Sunday to capture Abubakar Shekau, dead or alive, who is both the spiritual head and supreme commander of the terror group.

"We must move across to wherever this criminal, Shekau, is and catch him red-handed. I want you to get him," the army chief charged the troops in Camp Zairo, previously the largest camp of Boko Haram in the northern state of Borno.

On Thursday, a bounty of USD 8,310 was announced on Shekau's head.

According to a report by the Adamawa State chapter of Muslim Council, up to 5,247 Muslims have been killed in the Boko Haram violence in seven local government areas of Adamawa town in northern Nigeria between 2013 and 2017.

The Boko Haram insurgency began in 2009 when the militants staged an armed rebellion against the government of Nigeria.

Suicide attacks carried out by the insurgent group have claimed more than 20,000 lives and displaced at least two million people, according to Nigerian vice-president Yemi Osinbajo.

Also, the group has carried out mass abductions, including the kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls from Chibok in April 2014.

The group is also active in the neighbouring countries of Cameroon, Chad, and Niger. (ANI)

This story has not been edited. It has been published as provided by ANI