DNA will end Shekau’s death controversy – Expert

A security analyst, Ben Okezie, has advised the military authorities to carry out a deoxyribo nucleic acid testing or profiling on the remains of Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, in order to put an end to the controversy surrounding his demise.

He described as embarrassing the claims by the military and counter-claims by the Boko Haram sect on Shekau.

The military had claimed to have killed Shekau in 2013 and a terrorist who had been impersonating the deceased insurgent last week in Konduga, Borno State. But another impostor, in a video released online, dismissed the Army’s claims.The man claiming to be Shekau said he was still alive, adding that the missing military jet was shot down by his group.

But Okezie, in a telephone interview with our correspondent on Monday, described as embarrassing the claims by the military that it had killed Shekau ‘three times, noting that the only way to end the matter was to carry out a DNA profiling on his body, trace his family members and ask them to identify him.

The DNA profiling (or genetic fingerprinting) is a technique employed by forensic scientists to assist in the identification of individuals by their respective DNA material that governs inheritance of eye colour, hair colour, stature, bone density and many other human and animal traits.

It is used in parental testing and criminal investigation.

The security analyst explained that this was what the United States did when its security operatives killed the Al-Qaeda leader, Osama Bin Laden, stressing that since his death, no impostor had come up to claim that he was Osama.

He also noted that the same thing was done by the US when it tracked and killed the leader of Al Shabab, Ahmed Godane, in Somalia last month, pointing out that the identification of the terrorist by the Americans could not be controverted by the terrorist group.

He said, “The military should be able to conduct an autopsy on the body of Shekau that they claimed to have killed, as was done by the Americans when they killed Osama bin Laden and the leader of Al Shabab in Somalia recently. The claim by Boko Haram that Shekau is alive and the counter-claim by the military that he had been killed are embarrassing and should be put to an end immediately.”

On the claims by Boko Haram that it shot down the missing Nigerian military jet and killed the pilot, Okezie said the claim was probable, adding that the security forces did not seem to have any point to contradict the claim.

According to him, the jet might have been flying low, which might have given the insurgents the opportunity to attack it and bring it down.