How Boko Haram ‘subtly’ benefits from piracy

Foreign security experts and the Federal Bureau of Intelligence (FBI) say there is a link between the funding of Boko Haram’s activities and rising acts of piracy on Nigeria’s waters.

They were speaking with CNN on the kidnap and release of American ship captain, Wren Thomas, who himself expressed belief that proceeds from his hostage-taking by pirates in Nigeria may have ended up in the hands of Boko Haram insurgents.

Thomas was piloting his supply boat, the C-Retriever, off the coast of Nigeria towards a Chevron-owned oil field in October 2013 when he was attacked.

After initially attempting to fight back, he reluctantly gave up when the pirates started firing guns through a hole in the room door. he said he had no other choice but to surrender if he did not want to endanger his 13-member crew.

“I told my engineer, ‘Look, I think it’s time we gave up,” he said.

“If we don’t give up, we are either going to die or somebody is going to get killed from ricocheting bullets.”

Thomas and his engineer, the only foreigners on the ship, were the only ones kidnapped by the pirates,who would eventually hold them hostage for a total of 18 days.

“The experience was so horrific that even today, I am unable to bring myself to reveal all details of my captivity,” he said.

“We weren’t being punched or kicked or anything like that, but I have told people that I would rather have preferred to be punched then go through what I went through: the mental abuse of guns pointing at you and knowing how unstable these guys are. I knew I was going to die. We knew it every day, every night.”

Thomas recalled that the  leaders were sophisticated, using satellite phones to negotiate, first demanding a $2 million ransom he  believes was scaled down but eventually paid.

Although the FBI refused to publicly comment, Thomas revealed that during his debriefing in Lagos after his release, the FBI indicated that although the ransom may have been received by other groups, chances were high that a part of it trickled to Boko Haram.

Also speaking with CNN, Yan St-Pierre, CEO of Modern Security Consulting Group, said his contacts believe that Boko Haram has a relationship with — and profits from — increased piracy along the west coast of Africa. He cautioned, though, that it is unlikely that the group has been directly executing the sea attacks and kidnaps itself.

“So when people are asking, is there a link between Boko Haram and piracy in Nigeria, it’s not the one they usually expect it to be,” St-Pierre said.

“It’s one that is not necessarily logistical and operational. It’s one that is more subtle. Essentially they will probably provide personnel every now and then, but it’s not a fixed structure.

“So we are talking more [about] providing means to wash the money, to clean it. To make sure the smuggling routes, personnel, sex slaves, drugs, weapons above all else, these pirates need weapons.

“So if Boko Haram provided the weapons in advance for example and said, ‘Well we will get a cut of the ransom,’ which is standard policy within these groups — within the region in general — this would make absolute sense to say, ‘Well the ransom money that was paid for the captain ended up at the very least partially into Boko Haram’s hands, quite probably as a payment for services delivered.”