A new United Nations, UN report has revealed that the Boko Haram sect now recruits its fighters from Nigeria’s neighbouring countries, especially Cameroun and Niger Republic.
The report published by the Integrated Regional Information Networks, IRIN, which Nigerian Pilot accessed yesterday, revealed over 100 suspected Boko Haram fighters and preachers (the latter presumed to have links with the group), have been arrested in parts of Cameroun and Niger Republic since 2012, but several of them were released for lack of evidence.
The report contained the statements of residents of the affected communities in the two countries. In one of them, a resident of Mayo-Sava area in Far North Region, and an Islamic preacher and elder in Mora District, in Cameroun, Ibrahim Hamman, said: “There are many Muslim brothers coming from Nigeria with the aim of preaching to the youths. The government has warned against this practice, but they still reach out to the young people because they make them promises and give them money,”
Haman pointed out that some youths have managed to escape the sect after being recruited, but many others have not returned.
“Boko Haram is considered here as just another religious group, and it is not difficult to be a member if you want to. Young people from here have been induced into joining Boko Haram,” he said.
Military training
Seventeen-year-old Mustapha, (not real name,) recounted how he was brought back to Cameroun, blindfolded after failing to cope with the insurgents’ military training. He had been taken to Nigeria by a preacher.
“I was the youngest among eight other boys who told me they came from the towns of Banki, Kolofata and Ngeshawa (in Cameroun) and Maiduguri (in Nigeria). Before I was taken, they told my father that I would come back rich and a great Muslim, so he allowed me to go. We were reading the Koran and they would preach to us about fighting for the Muslim faith,” said Mustapha.
“I went for my second military training in the mountains, but suffered many injuries and was bedridden for one month,” he said, explaining that he was brought back as his injuries ruled him unfit for combat.
A government official in Mora District, however, said that it is difficult to ascertain that Boko Haram is recruiting from Camerounian border villages. There are similar ethnic communities in Cameroun’s far north and North-Eastern Nigeria who have families on either side of the border, speak the same language and share a common culture, making undetected cross-border movement easy.
But a Mora resident who gave his name only as Daibu said that his brother disappeared in 2012 soon after joining a local Koranic school. “He just left and never came back. We heard from people that he had joined Boko Haram.”
Widening threat in Cameroun
The report said that the threat of Boko Haram is widespread in Camerounian villages bordering North-Eastern Nigeria. A Nigerian military offensive launched in May 2013 pushed back the insurgents from major towns in the country’s North-East to remote areas.
There are claims that Boko Haram is also recruiting from neighbouring Niger Republic. Some observers have also linked the group with Islamist insurgents who seized Mali’s north after the March 2012 overthrow of the government in Bamako.
Insecurity in Cameroun’s Far North Region caused by Boko Haram has crippled trade between the region and North-Eastern Nigeria. Yaoundé authorities have bolstered security, but infiltration and kidnappings by gunmen suspected to be linked to the radical Islamists have not stopped.
The Mora government official told IRIN: “Boko Haram has often sent warnings to the communities. We have issued a curfew from 6pm to 6am that covers all communities in Mora District. We also forbid motorbike traffic at night because we discovered that Boko Haram use motorbikes to commit crimes.”
There are military patrols as well, said the official, “but the military needs to be given the right weapons and capacity to fight Boko Haram that has more lethal weapons like rocket launchers and grenades.”
“We strongly believe that Boko Haram has elements in Cameroun and the authorities are doing everything possible to track them down. The manoeuvers they make in Cameroun territory is evidence that these groups have a good mastery of the terrain and the armed men could include local Camerounians and those from neighbouring countries,” said Emmanuel Bob-Iga, head of the police division at the Far North governor’s office.
Military commander, Beaufils Mana said Boko Haram incursions are being abetted by some local residents.
“It is obvious that Boko Haram uses some Camerounians. This is because an intruder cannot enter your territory when he has no idea of the area. Boko Haram must be colluding with Camerounians to be able to move around easily.”
Source: Nigerian Pilot
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