Chief of Army Staff Lt General Tukur Buratai,describes Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, as a mere noise maker

 

Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, on Monday, described the alleged leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, as a mere noise maker trying to sound relevant.Answering questions from newsmen in Abuja after declaring open the Chief of Army Staff third quarter conference in Abuja, he declared that as far as the army was concerned, Shekau is not relevant even if at all there is anybody like him.The army chief, who was reacting to the latest audio message, debunking the reported negotiation with his group, said that if Shekau was relevant, why are the terrorists escaping from their camps and surrendering themselves to the military.“They are just making noise to be relevant and a number of issues are being worked out for the escaping terrorists to be received,” he said.Speaking on the Chibok girls, General Buratai disclosed that they are making all effort to ensure that they clear the terrorists and thereafter free the girls.According to him, “we are suspecting that the Chibok girls are somewhere and we are yet to confirm and once that is done, we will attempt to see what we can do to bring them back in peace.”On the over 3,000 soldiers that were convicted for cowardice by the military court martials set up by the former Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General KTJ Minimah, General Buratai disclosed that they had all been deployed to the north east and joined in the combat operations.Also whether the soldiers will get paid for the period they were dismissed, the army boss said they would not be paid, but will start earning their salary from the day they started re-training.