Follow @9jaLife There were indications yesterday in Abuja, that the leader of the Boko Haram Islamic sect, Imam Abubakar Shekau was wounded during a gun battle with security men recently. Sources said in Abuja that security agencies traced the whereabouts of Shekau, who succeeded late Mohammed Yusuf as leader of the sect to Mali, where he escaped to after sustaining injuries during a gun duel with soldiers of the Joint Task Force, JTF, a.k.a Operation Restore Order. Sources told Saturday Vanguard that the Federal Government approved the deployment of 1,200 soldiers apparently because of the need to arrest the wounded Boko Haram leader. The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Azubuike Ihejirika who addressed officers and soldiers of the Nigerian army shortly before they were airlifted to Mali Thursday in Kaduna, asked them to be extra vigilant as there are indications that some terrorists had sneaked into the country with the aim of causing havoc. Ihejirika however, pointed out that the Nigerian Army was not resting on its oars as the war against terror was being won. Saturday Vanguard learnt that the battle between the JTF and the sect members took place at Gao city, in the heart of Northern Mali presently under the control of Tuareg militants. It was further learnt that Shekau, who is having N50million ransom hanging on his head from the Federal Government, was ferried to Mali through one of the porous routes in the vast Nigerian border without Customs and Immigration authorities getting wind of it. Saturday Vanguard was told that while the Boko Haram leader was being given medication in Gao, the foreign sponsors of the sect's activities in Nigeria, were busy, using his name to indoctrinate, train and recruit more members for the sect. Shekau was said to have been shot at a checkpoint when he reportedly attempted to deceive operatives of the JTF by posing as a nomadic Fulani who was returning from a journey. However, on approach of the vehicle conveying him and members of his sect, ''a hot exchange of gunfire ensued as the sect members started firing at the soldiers who equally returned fire for fire.'' During the crossfire, he and two other [...]
