The All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Organisation, has warned of an ongoing plot by the Federal Government to create a fake Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau.
The party says the government intends to use the fake Shekau to create in the minds of Nigerians and the world, the perception that it is winning the war on terrorism.
It said credible sources had informed the APC that the fake Shekau may be used to blackmail members of the opposition “by coaching the phantom terror chief” to confess to being in league with the opposition party’s candidate, Maj. Gen Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).
A statement issued on Monday, February 23, by the Director of Media and Publicity of the APCOPC, Malam Garba Shehu, stated that the recent directive given to the military to catch Shekau alive was proof that a counterfeit Boko Haram leader was being created.
It said: “The charge to the military, that they should catch Shekau alive by the President in the last 24 hours, lends credence to the report that indeed a fake Shekau is about being created.”
The statement added that based on the profile and ideology of Shekau, it was highly unlikely that he would allow himself to be caught alive.
The statement added: “It is both contradictory to the ideology he preaches and the psychological profile that the world has of him that Shekau would allow himself to be caught alive.”