Al Qaeda partly funding Boko Haram, US reveals

The United States is in possession of evidence that Boko Haram receives financial support from Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, an offshoot of the jihadist group founded by Osama bin Laden, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

However, the report said that foreign support of Boko Haram’s operations is limited.

“Any financial support AQIM might still be providing Boko Haram would pale in comparison to the resources it gets from criminal activities,” a US official quoted in the report said.

It added that a chunk of Boko Haram’s funds comes from its “kidnap and ransom operations”.

“Ransoms appear to be the main source of funding for Boko Haram’s five-year-old Islamist insurgency in Nigeria, whose 170 million people are split roughly evenly between Christians and Muslims,” the official said.

The report also cited the $3.15 million Boko Haram received as ransom for the release of “Frenchman Tanguy Moulin-Founeir, his wife and four children and his brother while they were on holiday near Waza national park in Cameroon” in February last year, as evidence of kidnapping as the major source of funding for the sect’s operations.

“Figures vary on how much Boko Haram earns from kidnappings. Some US officials estimate the group is paid as much as $1 million for the release of each abducted wealthy Nigerian,” it said.

“Current and former US and Nigerian officials say Boko Haram’s operations do not require significant amounts of money, which means even successful operations tracking and intercepting their funds are unlikely to disrupt their campaign.”

It further said that it had been difficult for the US to choke off the source of funding of Boko Haram, because the sect’s transactions hold largely within its circle.

“Boko Haram’s inner leadership is security savvy, not only in the way it moves money but also in its communication, relying on face-to-face contact, since messages or calls can be intercepted,” former and current US officials said.

In the last three days alone, Boko Haram has successfully executed two bomb attacks — one in Bauchi State early on Sunday morning, killing 11 people and injuring 28; and the other in Maiduguri, capital of Borno State on Tuesday, killing a yet-unspecified number of people.