When the Boko Haram insurgency broke out in
northern Nigeria, specifically Borno state, it was
targeting police stations and other places of work
and abode of law enforcement officers following
the killing in police custody of the group’s
founder.
But gradually, activities of the group has
expanded to taking control of cities, kidnapping
hundreds of girls at a time, organizing prison
breaks, targeting churches and mosques and
most recently deploying female teenage suicide
bombers.
A new report by the BBC and King’s College
London revealed the insurgency that Nigerian
president Goodluck Jonathan once said was
being carried out by “brothers” have made
Nigeria the second most deadly country in the
world, just behind Iraq, while the Boko Haram
sect is ranked second in the world in killing the
largest number of people.
Accusing finger have been – and continues to be
pointed at politicians. As recent as last
September, the two major political parties in the
country, the ruling People’s Democratic Party
(PDP) threatened to mention the names of
leaders of the major opposition party the All
Progressives Congress (APC) which it said are
the ones sponsoring the activities of Boko Haram
in northern Nigeria.
But the opposition had said revelations made by
Australian negotiator, Stephen Davies, had
exonerated the leadership of the party from any
involvement in the activities of the terrorist
organization since Davis mentioned some PDP
members and political allies of the Nigerian
president as the true sponsors of Boko Haram.
These Nigeria’s neighboring countries have had
their fair share of the spillover of the activities of
the terrorist organization extending beyond the
Nigerian borders into their territories, especially
in the Far North Cameroon, near the border with
Nigeria where the country’s army recently killed
about 107 members of the group, the attack also
resulted in the death of 8 Cameroonian army
officers and dozens of citizens.
Apart from engaging the terrorists, the
Cameroonian government especially the military
regularly argues with the Nigerian government
specifically the Defense Headquarters.
Group Leader With Nine Lives
One of such instances was the confusion over
whether leader of the group AbubekarShekau is
alive or dead with the Cameroonian Army
claiming it killed Shekau while the Nigerian Army
insisted its officers killed Shekau – for the
umpteenth time.
Both countries also argued over what really
happened when about 300 Nigerian soldiers ran
to Cameroun from Mubi town after it was
overran by Boko Haram. Cameroun said Nigerian
soldiers fled while Nigerian Army described the
escape as a tactical maneuver .
Chad, a landlocked country in Central Africa has
been strongly linked with sponsoring Boko
Haram. The country shares borders with Libya,
Sudan, Central African Republic, Cameroun, Niger
and Nigeria. Suspicion grew when the Chadian
government brokered a botched ceasefire deal
with Boko Haram that misled Nigerian Army into
letting down their guard and was caught
unaware by the terrorist organization.
The Cable quoted a security source saying that
Chadians were serving as foot soldiers for the
terrorist organization. A diplomat told the news
media that Chadian president’s involvement
could be regarded as a copycat of the late
Libyan leader Muammar Ghaddafi’s
destabilization of West Africa. He added that the
president of Chad Déby was very close to
Ghaddafi.
The Cable report suggested that Chad may be
interested in gaining control of the oil deposits in
the Chad Basin located in Bornostate, the
hydrocarbon deposit reportedly covers about
3,350 square meters. If Chad gains control of
this resource, it could significantly boost its
economy which currently has former governor of
Borno state Ali Modu Sheriff as one of its major
investors. The former governor is a close ally of
the Chadian president and was recently accused
of sponsoring Boko Haram, an allegation he
denied .
“In a saner community, Sheriff would be in
custody but he is even among the delegation of
the Chadian government that welcomed
President Jonathan when he visited the country.
As far as I’m concerned, he is the prime suspect
and number one lead if we are trying to connect
the Nigerian government to the activities of Boko
Haram,” said FunmilayoOguunbiyi, a political
analyst.
But Boko Haram continues to have access to
state-of-the-art weapons, surface-to-air
missiles, armoured personnel carriers and other
equipment that are only sold to sovereign
states. Political commenters also raised
questions about how the terrorist group is
transporting is heavy machineries if it had not
received support from neighboring countries that
could easily facilitate acquisition and
transportation.
Speaking in New York at a high level meeting of
the United Nations Security Council, Nigeria’s
president said Boko Haram is getting foreign
support, although he didn’t mention any specific
country; he also accused the United States
government of not providing the Nigerian
government with sufficient military assistance
that would enable Nigeria to convincingly win
the battle against terrorism.
Recently, the international relations between
Nigeria and US further deteriorated when the
Nigerian government cancelled the military
training arrangement it had with the United
States to combat Boko Haram an action that
baffled several US security experts although the
Nigerian government gave a number of reasons
for taking the decision.
The France and Russia Connection
A potential French or Russian interest in the
Boko Haram insurgency activities in northern
Nigeria was also made public this month when a
Russian plane loaded with large amount of arms
and ammunition, bound for neighboring Chad
was intercepted by the Nigerian Army at the
Aminu Kano International Airport, members of
the aircraft’s crew were subsequently detained
for questioning. According to the report, the
plane was heading for N’djamena, the capital of
Chad.
The plane’s manifest revealed it took off from
Bangui, Central African Republic and had on
board 24 military hardware including a vehicle,
helicopters and blades. While confirming the
involvement of the French government, the
French ambassador to Nigeria, Jacques
Champagne de Labriolle, however denied claims
that there were arms and ammunition aboard.
In a research note on Boko Haram’s
International Reach, Ely Karmon said although
most of Boko Haram’s terrorist activity is
focused, for the moment, on Nigerian territory,
the group is already an important international
jihadist organization.
According to Karmon, the bulk of BokoHaram’s
membership, the indiscriminate and cruel
characteristic of its attacks, the complexity of
the Nigerian religious and ethnic context, the
sheer weight of the Nigerian state in an instable
neighborhood – Cameroun, Niger, Chad, Mali –
and its proximity to the jihadist battle front in
the Sahel convert it into an immediate and
infectious regional threat.
Within Nigeria, citizens are divided over who is
to be held responsible for the actions of Boko
Haram. Daniel Olumuyiwa, a public administrator
in Ife southwest Nigeria said he is as confused
as other Nigerians.
“No one can really say who is responsible, only
the sponsor and the terrorist organization could
answer that. The rest of us are in the dark over
the crisis,” he told AFKInsider.

afkinsider.com/81662/sponsoring-boko-haram-nigeria/

it's me and my brother

The person above me needs mental attention @ o.p i dont no how dis international politics stuff works but as u rightly said in a sane society the borno state governor need to be interrogated also the chad president too is not left out it baffed me when i see bokoharam of yesterday now holding a country like nigeria to ransom hmm na only God fit help us but in apostle suleman's voice bokoharam is being financed by a ex army general and also a traditional ruler

Jonathan & Alimodu Sheriff