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The unnatural silence that followed the spirited announcement of the arrest of the financiers of Boko Haram was broken recently when the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, announced the readiness of the Federal Government to commence the prosecution of the terrorist enablers. The government would resuscitate and reinvigorate the special terrorism courts in the country for that purpose, he said.
Although, Malami did not give details about the special courts, the ministry has an arrangement with the Federal High Court which involves the deployment of judges to various detention facilities where terrorism suspects are held. The Federal High Court has exclusive jurisdiction to handle terrorism cases. A fortnight ago, the government disclosed that it was “profiling” about 400 Nigerians, alleged to be financing terrorism.
The ability of Boko Haram to survive has not been a mystery because it is common sense that without massive support it would not last for so long. The mystery has been the names and faces behind the organisation. Although the terrorists make money from robberies, kidnappings, and other criminal activities like protection rackets, those sources of funds could never take any fighting force any distance. Even with the support of rogue states, money laundering, drug trafficking and narcotics manufacturing, it is usually a high risk venture which only a few rouge states dare to undertake. Granted that the so-called “backgate (of the Nigerian military) was left unlocked” to enable Boko Haram to arm itself from its massive looting of the Nigerian armoury, the looting would never suffice to sustain Boko Haram to replicate its battle field performance of the past few years. So, who are the godfathers, the moneybags, the benefactors of Boko Haram?
The investigation was coordinated by the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) and led by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) in collaboration with the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Apparently, the investigative sweep yielded as many as 957 suspects comprising bureau de change operators, gold miners, gold sellers and men engaged in other business ventures. How the numbers were whittled down to 400 is not clear, but to those who have been skeptical of the sincerity and seriousness of intelligence operations against Boko Haram, this is another red flag. Suspects were picked up from Kano, Borno, Sokoto, Adamawa, Kaduna and Zamfara states, and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The suspects are said to be held in military and DSS facilities in Abuja and other places. Among the findings, 19 bureau de change seem to have been traced directly to Boko Haram involving amounts estimated to be more than N300 billion.
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The genesis of these activities was the shocking verdict of the Federal Court of Appeal of the United Arab Emirates which sat in Abu Dhabi and sentenced six Nigerians to various terms of imprisonment for transferring $782,000 from Dubai to Boko Haram in Nigeria. Two of the men received life imprisonment; and four were given 10 years each, all of them were found guilty of violating UAE anti-terrorism laws. The defendants did not deny that they transferred the money; they did not deem their act as illegal. The media coverage of the proceedings and the verdict seems sketchy and incomprehensive. An observer has noted that they could have maintained that the recipient was not Boko Haram; and that the sentences were relatively light, those sentenced to life could have been sentenced to death. The amount is estimated to be quite large, yet there is no indication of source. The suspicion that Nigerian officials connive with Boko Haram has not died down. Two Boko Haram agents in Nigeria received the money, according to court records and one of those agents is a “Nigerian government official” who also funneled government money to Boko Haram.
To an overwhelming majority of Nigerians, the Abu Dhabi verdict was not an eye-opener but the confirmation of their worst fears. Why did it take 11 years before someone decided to find out the funders of Boko Haram? Why did it take a verdict in Abu Dhabi for us to begin an investigation of the sources of Boko Haram funds in Nigeria? Now the pessimism of the former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen Yakubu Buratai, that the Boko Haram war might last 20 years begins to make sense because cutting off the funds means cutting off the head of Boko Haram.
We appeal to the government not to botch this trial, which probably will determine the course of the war on Boko Haram.
