Looking for financiers of boko boys?

In 2009, when the information leaked out that a Muslim cleric whose name was then not known, was alledged to be gathering some young boys and indoctrinating them and was offering them free food and those without a handwork, were freely offered free motorcycles on hire purchase bargain . The state police commissioner Mr Christopher Dega came to the force headquaters to submit his intelligence report and personally brief the lnspector General of police Mr Ogbonnaya Onovo. This writer was then the Managing Editor of the police security newspaper (The DAWN) An international award winning publication.

After the briefing, the State security service in Borno also expressed concern according to Mr Dega. Infact, the activities in the mosque became more noticeable as more unemployed youths were joining others to attend the mosque where Mallam Mohammed Yusuf was the cleric. He was the founder of the lslamic sect, which was secretly set up in 2002 and concealing his clandestine activities under religious umbrella.



As the sect developed in ideology , it became popularly known by the locals as Boko Haram simply because of its defiance and hatred for western education. Unfortunately , not much is known about his life neither was there any information about his family not even his early life. However when the religious uprising took place, that was when both the governor and security agencies remembered to put on their thinking caps to proffer solution to the religious riot under the watch of the state governor Ali modu Sheriff now a senator.

As expected. the security agencies in the state joined hands to effectively quell the riot which the military was able to arrest the lslamic leader and handed him over to the police for further investigation and interrogation. The main essence was to find out who Mohammed Yusuf was.

Painfully, he was killed by the police without obtaining any information and even the case against the police killers was swept underground and nothing heard about the killers of Mohammed Yusuf. Vividly recalled when Deputy Inspector General Of Police Parry Osayande invited this writer to Benin City while executing the arrest of notorious armed robber Lawrence Anini as the police Commissioner detailed to effect and coordinate the arrest of the robber. Impressively, l was the only reporter in the compound with Osayande when Anini who was in chains on both legs and hand was marched before the commissioner by his captor police officer Kayode Omiororo and other mobile officers.

Among the question Mr Osayande asked Anini was , “ who are your sponsors?”. In other words, Osayande was simply asking the notorious armed robber, to mention those who are financing his robbery activities and buying guns for his group. Today, Nigerians and most especially the Chief of DEFENCE staff, General Christopher Musa would want to know who the financiers of Boko Haram terrorists.

The financiers are simply the enemies of the country. Those who do not want progress in the country. These are the financiers of every terrorists attack.

They are the dollar suppliers to the terrorists. The question is what format does the profiling and interrogation of arrested and captured terrorists take. What direction are these interrogations.

It is therefore unbelievable that after arresting over a thousand terrorists and subjected to serious interrogation, yet the military would still be asking to know who the financiers of these terrorists are. When the country was bedeviled by armed robbers, the police commissioner in Lagos, Mr Mike Okiro and his deputy MD Abubakar had put their heads together with some squad members of the special anti robbery with the view of finding lasting solution to the incessant robbery attacks in Lagos and other states. At the end of the operation, many robbers were arrested and during interrogations, intelligent informations that led to both the arrest of other robbers and notably their financiers were exposed and rounded up.

The assignment to flush out the terrorists is a national assignment and the military should not be left to carry the burden alone. There is nothing wrong for an inter agency collaboration. Security agencies should collaborate when there is a national assignment in the overall interest of the country.

There is nothing wrong during a war situation to draft the best hands in interrogation from the military, police and intelligence service to team up and form a formidable team to interrogate war criminals like terrorists, all in the overall interest of the country. Such collaboration could either be internal or external. Instead of going to the media to cry foul, those in authourity should also collaborate with other allied countries through the federal ministry of external affairs to apprehend these war financiers.

In 2013 some financiers of Boko Haram boys were arrrested with foreign collaborators and the result was successful. Records shows that the U.S.

Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated a network of six individuals connected to Nigeria-based terrorist group, Boko Haram. All six were found guilty of establishing a Boko Haram cell in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to raise funds for and provide material assistance to Boko Haram insurgents in Nigeria. OFAC’s action follows arrests, prosecutions, and designations in the UAE in September 2021, demonstrating the commitment of the Emirati government to using judicial measures and targeted financial sanctions to disrupt the flow of funds to these networks.

“With this action, the United States joins the UAE in targeting terrorist financing networks of mutual concern,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury Brian Nelson. “Treasury continues to target financial facilitators of terrorist activity worldwide. We welcome multilateral action on this Boko Haram network to ensure that it is not able to move any further funds through the international financial system.

” OFAC designated Abdurrahman Ado Musa, Salihu Yusuf Adamu, Bashir Ali Yusuf, Muhammed Ibrahim Isa, Ibrahim Ali Alhassan, and Surajo Abubakar Muhammad pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, as amended, which targets terrorists, leaders, and officials of terrorist groups, and those providing support to terrorists or acts of terrorism.

The U.S. Department of State designated Boko Haram as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist on November 14, 2013.

The UAE Federal Court of Appeals in Abu Dhabi convicted Abdurrahman Ado Musa, Salihu Yusuf Adamu, Bashir Ali Yusuf, Muhammed Ibrahim Isa, Ibrahim Ali Alhassan, and Surajo Abubakar Muhammad for transferring $782,000 from Dubai to Boko Haram in Nigeria. Salihu Yusuf Adamu and Surajo Abubakar Muhammad were sentenced to life imprisonment for violations of UAE anti-terrorism laws; Abdurrahman Ado Musa, Bashir Ali Yusuf, Muhammed Ibrahim Isa, and Ibrahim Ali Alhassan were sentenced to 10 years in prison, followed by deportation. Today’s designations will prevent these individuals’ funds from being used further to support terrorism.

Are we still looking for financiers of Boko Boys?. however, I recommend that the central bank should code every currency being issued to every beaure de change operator in the country, to enable the security officer track such currency when they see them with terrorist..