How Boko Haram Nigerian terrorism is financed
By Donu Kogbara
LET me now share with you some excerpts from a paper written by Dr. Uche Igwe, a Fellow at the London School of Economics. Terrorism is an expensive venture. The lifeline of any violent extremist organisation is its capacity to raise funds to finance its operations and recruit members. The sources of funding of terrorists, however, continue to be as elusive as the terrorists themselves.
The existence of predominantly informal cash-based economies in the conflict regions in which they often operate has made the situation more complex.
Boko Haram allegedly uses couriers to move cash inside Nigeria and across the porous borders from neighbouring African countries. Between 2006 and 2011, reports indicate that the group was able to secure approximately US$70 million from various illicit sources….Recently, the Islamic State in West Africa Province, ISWAP, a splinter group of Boko Haram, appointed new commanders and gave specific assignments to raise funds by imposing taxes on communities through trade and regulation of agricultural activities.
According to Elizabeth Donnelly of Chatham House… in London, before authorities can cut off Boko Haram funding, they have to find it. This would go a long way towards impeding the group. Boko Haram allegedly received initial funding from Osama bin Laden, according to a report by the Daily Beast . The story runs that around 2002 he sent an aide to Nigeria with US$3 million to distribute among groups that shared al-Qaeda’s mission to impose Islamic rule. Boko Haram was one of the major beneficiaries.
A recent United Nations report revealed that insurgents’ activities are nowadays funded through multiple sources which include extortion, taxes, ‘protection fees’, bank robberies, charitable donations, smuggling, foreign remittances and kidnapping. Multiple sources also indicate that some insurgents are involved in human trafficking and the arms trade to raise funds. They are further said to receive support locally from religious sympathisers and wealthy professionals.
Availability of funds affects the scale and frequency of attacks undertaken by terrorist groups. With growing insecurity across Northern Nigeria and recent successful attacks against the military, analysts insist that Boko Haram may indeed be getting richer and more sophisticated in its operations. Its weaponry has shifted from relatively cheap AK-47 rifles in the early days of the violence to combat vehicles and anti-aircraft guns.
Kidnap-for-ransom (of Nigerians and foreigners) has been long associated with Boko Haram as their major source of finance – a lucrative enterprise that has now become a full-blown industry. An uncountable number of students have been kidnapped in the past five years, forcing many schools in Northern Nigeria to shut down. A report by the United Nations Children Emergency Fund, UNICEF, put the number of kidnapped children in Northern Nigeria at 1000 in 2018, which remains a conservative estimate.
Another source of funding for insurgents is lucrative commercial fishing and farming of red pepper. According to the World Food Programme, the combined fish and pepper trade contributed about $48 million to the Nigerian economy through exports before the insurgency. The insurgents now use the trade to consolidate their finances and grow their influence.
It is believed that many politicians from northern Nigeria, especially the governors as well as parliamentarians, regularly pay protection money to Boko Haram. There is evidence that politicians use these insurgents to rig elections and terrorise their opponents. The Federal Government does not appear serious in prosecuting those indicted for the insurgents’ financial offences.
Continued…