One day, a young boy was asked by his father to take some supplies to his older brothers who were members of the Civilian Task Force in Borno State. As he approached their camps he overheard some of his brother’s colleague discussing the latest message they had just received from Abubakar Shekau. He was intrigued as he moved closer. He thought he heard fear in the muffled voices of his brothers’ colleagues even though they tried to talk tough.

“What are you doing here?” It was the voice of his immediate elder brother, which broke sharply into him. “What have you come for? This is not a place for boys, you know.”

“Papa says…”

“Papa says what? Young man, I know you’re itching for adventure. And I’m sure you put Papa to this”.

“I did no such thing. He asked me to bring you and brother some food.”

“Drop the food and leave immediately.”

“Brother, who is Shekau?”

“None of your business.”

“I heard some of your colleagues talking about him as I was coming now.”

“You heard or you were eavesdropping?”

“Is it true those things they say he said? Does he really mean them?”

“You will find out when you get home. Now begone.

That night the young man wrote Shekau a letter. Here is part of what he wrote:

Dear Abubakar Shekau, I hope my letter meets you well. I hope you and the family are well too. I heard about you today. I heard you are very strong and fearless. Do you have children who are teenagers, like me? Do you talk to them from time to time? You must have noticed how unpredictable they are. That’s how we are.

Yours sincerely,

Jamil Abubakar