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The Epoch Times learned that both the Islamic State-related rebellion known as Boko Haram and the terrorist group in Ansar merged with thieves in the northern state of Nigeria near the country’s capital. This alliance could exacerbate the violence that is afflicting this African nation.
Cooperation between bandits and terrorists in Boko Haram in Kaduna was when the controversial Sheikh and kidnapping mediator Ahmadgumi summarized the release of hostages in four different mass kidnapping cases since December 2020. It was reported.
The abduction of 22 students from Greenfield University on April 17 remains in negotiations after five students were killed and one was released as a result of ransom negotiations with some of their parents. ..
“The kidnapping of Greenfield is unique because it’s the first time we’ve seen cooperation between some bandits and Boko Haram elements to confirm that Boko Haram is invading the field,” Gumi channeled on Sunday. I told Channels TV. Gumi, a former captain of the Nigerian Armed Forces, is a senior priest of a mosque in the capital city of Kaduna, a two-hour drive north of the federal capital Abuja.
Gumi further said that Boko Haram terrorists tried to take over the hostage negotiations of 27 schoolboys abducted in Niger on February 17, but were rejected by thieves. The thief told Boko Haram, “No, this is not our way.” Allied Boko Haram and bandits are demanding a ransom of about $ 280,000 from the remaining 16 Greenfield students.
The Governor of Niger warned three weeks ago that Boko Haram had flagged his state and hijacked the town of Shiroro, a four-hour drive south of Abuja. Governor Sani Bello demanded that the army counterattack to ward off the bandits and “elements of Boko Haram” that scrambled 3,000 horrified citizens.
Niger terrorists may actually be members of Ansar, a jihadist group loyal to al-Qaeda. Ansar sponsors terrorist organizations throughout the Sahel (a region that spans Africa between the Sahel in the north and the savanna in the south).
“Government officials in Niger told us that the extremists who captured Shiroro were not Boko Haram, but Ansar’s jihadists,” Kyle Abz, director of the Nigerian International Commission, told The Epoch Times. Told. Abts recently returned from a two-week stay in northern Nigeria.
Boko Haram Formed an alliance For months, South Africa-based African regional think tank, the Security Institute (ISS), has expanded its territory and relieved pressure on core forces in northeastern Nigeria. I was with a thief.
Armed groups bombed and slaughtered northern Nigeria 11 years ago, but Nigerian troops were forced to retreat to the northeastern provinces that had fought the seesaw war for several years. According to the ISS, Boko Haram’s current leader, Abubakar Shekau, has developed an affinity with armed bandits in the northwest since sending a video message in 2014. In “Internal Message to Fulani” videoThe Shekau projected “gratitude” to fighters in Katsina and other unspecified locations, the ISS reported in March.
In recent months, armed groups have reappeared in the northern states of Kaduna and Niger, and in the northern central plateau, according to interviews with conflict reporters and ideological leaders.
“What we are seeing is an intensification of bandit attacks. Yes, Boko Haram, who benefits from abduction, will eventually fund more terrorism,” said an international development economist. Former Vice President Dr. Obadiah Myraffia said. Central Bank of Nigeria.
“A part of Boko Haram has joined the bandits,” Myraffia told The Epoch Times. “One of the signs is the heavy weapons used by bandits: rocket-propelled grenades and submachine guns,” he said.
“We estimate that armed groups and bandits across the country count more than 250,000 armed men and far outnumber the Nigerian army, which has less than 100,000 soldiers,” he said. It was.
He said the rebellion and the costs of the bandits associated with it cost seriously. “I estimate that thieves have lost more than $ 100 billion to the national economy over the last decade,” Myraffia told The Epoch Times in an interview on May 17.
According to conflict reporter Masala Kim, the transportation of weapons to bandits and Boko Haram terrorists dates back to the same source in Libya.
“One of my acquaintances in the Joss area arrested A truck full of ammunition is said to have been obtained in Libya in mid-September in Zamfara. This is the same source of weapons as Boko Haram’s terrorists, “Kim wrote in a text message in The Epoch Times.
The trafficker Usman Ibrahim, 28, was driving ammunition loaded on a truck for bandits. According to a new Nigerian newspaper, he was arrested by Nigerian troops in Zamfara. Ibrahim from Birkin Radi, Plateau, was partially employed by the government as a local police officer, Kim said.
“I knew him. He is from Mahanga, a former Christian community that has become an exclusion zone for Christian Muslims today. He grew up in what is now the town of Birkinradi and is arrested. I used to be a member of the regional police. “
Ibrahim was arrested with a police ID card. Kim wrote that in recent months thieves have been seen carrying $ 14,000 light machine guns.
As many as 60,000 people have been killed in Nigeria since the outbreak of the Boko Haram rebellion in 2010. Pastor Hassan John, Archdeacon of the Anglican Church of Joss, claims that the frequent and recurring 50,000 to 60,000 casualties are underestimated. An order of magnitude.
“The actual death toll in the last 11 years is close to 500,000,” the Archdeacon told the Epoch Times. According to John, the reason this number is high is that many atrocities have not been recorded and authorities tend to underestimate the deaths in their reports.
According to Myrafia, if the current trend of violence and impunity murder continues, it may not be possible to hold a presidential election in 2023.
“Nigeria is a rapidly failing nation,” he said. “If this continues, troops will be dispatched to stop the clash, but there may be situations in which a general uprising is encountered.”
In fact, on April 5, an army of 12 soldiers was ambushed and killed in Benue by local armed groups unrelated to bandits and rebellions.
“Social rifts are wider than they used to be,” he said. “Some of the governors of the Southwest, Southeast, and Median strips are discussing withdrawal from the Federal Republic. Under these circumstances, it will be difficult to hold an election in 2023.”
Douglas Burton may be reached at [email protected].
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