The Nigerian Army, through its spokesman Brigadier-General Sani Usman, announced a ₦3 million cash reward for "credible information" leading to the arrest of Abubakar Shekau. This came just 48 hours after the military claimed Shekau was "on the run for his dear life" following the bombardment of his hideouts in the Sambisa Forest (Camp Zairo).
15 Feb 2018 · Borno
Deaths
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Injured
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Kidnapped
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Total casualties
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Perpetrators
State Security Actors
Response
Shortly after the bounty, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, ordered troops to capture Shekau "dead or alive."
Displacement
0
Socioeconomic drivers
Strategic Devaluation
Trajectory
This period marked the military’s attempt to finalize the "Total Defeat" narrative. However, Shekau responded weeks later with a video taunting the military, proving that while his territory was shrinking, his command structure remained intact.
Cycle notes
The 2018 bounty reflected a long-standing pattern in which the Nigerian government and its international partners offered rewards for information leading to the capture of high-profile terrorist leaders. In 2012, the Federal Government announced a ₦50 million reward for information on Abubakar Shekau, while the United States offered a $7 million bounty in 2013. The 2018 reward, however, was notably smaller and came shortly after the military claimed that Shekau was “on the run.” Two days later, the army acknowledged that it could not independently verify that claim. This sequence—declaring success, announcing a bounty, and later admitting uncertainty—had occurred before. Following the military’s December 2015 declaration that Boko Haram had been “technically defeated,” security forces continued to struggle to locate and neutralize the group’s leadership. The pattern persisted in subsequent years. In 2020, the United States renewed its $7 million reward offer for information leading to Shekau’s capture, while Nigerian military authorities periodically reported that he had been killed, seriously wounded, or forced into hiding. These recurring claims highlighted the difficulties security agencies faced in conclusively determining the status and whereabouts of the insurgent leader.
Pattern
Bounty on terrorist leader
Sources
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