Were they afraid to say he was fake?

For over three years he had been the face of terror, appearing in videos applauding and advocating carnage.Last year, we cheered the news of his death only to see him resurface in his spooky videos.  When Nigerians debated whether or not he survived his first killing or he was being ‘impersonated’, our security agencies said […]

For over three years he had been the face of terror, appearing in videos applauding and advocating carnage.
Last year, we cheered the news of his death only to see him resurface in his spooky videos.  When Nigerians debated whether or not he survived his first killing or he was being ‘impersonated’, our security agencies said nothing. We were led to believe that he somehow managed to survive that first attempt on his life.
But when he suddenly got killed again in Konduga last week, the very first news item said he was a Shekau impostor. They all said he had been impersonating Abubakar Shekau all this time. The question here is, why did no one say he was an impostor until he died? Were they afraid to say he was fake or was some untouchable person benefitting from the lie that Shekau was alive? Whatever the case, we are not celebrating Shekau’s second death because we don’t know what to believe anymore. Who knows if another impostor will arise tomorrow and someone who gains from his existence will claim that Shekau had risen again, like the cat with nine lives?