After many speculations on where the
Islamist militant group, Boko Haram, are
getting the weapons they frequently
use to unleash terror in the north-
eastern states of Nigeria and Abuja,
their main sources have been unveiled.
According to US network TV NBC, most
of the Islamic terror group’s weapons
are either stolen from Nigerian military
stocks or purchased on the thriving
Central African arms black market, say
the experts, including current and
former U.S. officials.
While many have often wondered where
the insurgents source their weaponry
from, given both the sophistication and
the sheer number, ThisDay reports that
the group blamed for last month’s
kidnapping of nearly 300 Nigerian
schoolgirls routinely raids police
stations and military bases in search of
weapons
It was also gathered that in some cases,
Boko Haram sympathizers in the
Nigerian military abet the theft.
Boko Haram Leader Shekau
* Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau,
middle, in one of his videos posted
online
“There are hints that sympathizers in
the Nigerian army will deliberately
leave doors of armouries unlocked for
Boko Haram," said John Campbell, U.S.
ambassador to Nigeria from 2004 to
2007.
It could also be recalled that a top
military officer was indicted several
years ago in Kaduna, for supplying the
weapons of the Nigerian army to Niger
Delta militants, led by, now jailed, Henry
Okah.
The terror group has been conducting
its campaign of terror in the northern
states of Nigeria and neighboring
Cameroon on the cheap, making mayhem
with a makeshift collection of small
arms, automatic weapons, rifles, rocket-
propelled grenades and mortars,
experts on the turbulent region say.
The report also stated that apart from
weapons, the rebels frequently seize
non-lethal equipment that helps them
carry out their terror attacks, quoting
one U.S. official.
suspected members of the Boko
Haram sect
* Some suspected members of the Boko
Haram sect captured by Nigerian
military
Apart from benefiting from
sympathizers in the Nigerian military,
the Islamic terror group is said to be
able to purchase small arms and
occasionally some larger weaponry in
nearby conflict zones, “probably Libya,
probably Chad.
These arms are believed to be acquired
through "shady, black market"
arrangements across barely marked
borders, as the official put it.
The porousness of the Nigerian borders
was also said to be encouraging the
proliferation of the country with illegal
arms, according to Michael Leiter, a
former director of the National Counter
Terrorism Center and now an NBC News
analyst.
"The collapse of Libya has further
flooded the market,” said Leiter.
"Whether these came from Chad,
Nigeria, or Libya is almost irrelevant, as
such arms are widely available."
Cache of Arms
* Arms and weapons caught with Boko
Haram insurgents
Arms trade expert William M. Hartung
agrees. "It's one conflict after another,"
he said. "Because of the nature of the
conflict … the concentration of conflicts
… the black market in Central Africa is
more vibrant than other places.”
Campbell, the former U.S. ambassador
to Nigeria, says the array of small and
automatic weapons, grenades, mortars,
mines and perhaps car bombs "is all
Boko Haram’s soldiers need to carry out
their brand of terrorism."
It could be recalled that officials in
Cameroon on Tuesday showed a cache
of weapons they said was seized near
the Nigerian border last month following
a rescue of some other kidnapped
victims.
A Cameroon defense ministry
spokesman, showing off a variety of
weaponry including Russian-made
AK-47s, said the cache represents
what they are up against on a daily
basis in trying to combat Boko Haram.
