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A large group of Boko Haram jihadists have left their base in northeast Nigeria to join criminal gangs in the northwest, where they carry out weapons training and kidnappings, military sources said on Friday. .
Boko Haram’s rivals, allied with ISIS, are consolidating their grip on the northeast after the death of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau this year, in a major shift in the 12-year Nigerian insurgency.
The province of the Islamic State of West Africa (ISWAP) has established itself in Boko Haram territory, fighting Shekau loyalists, assimilating some or forcing others to surrender to the armed forces, according to reports. safe sources.
Details of the displacement of Boko Haram fighters could be the latest sign of cooperation between jihadists and criminal armed groups in the northwest, who loot and loot villages and carry out mass kidnappings for ransom.
Two military sources said a faction loyal to Shekau based in Borno state sent two commanders and 250 fighters to the forests of Rijana in northwest Kaduna state.
The two commanders are allied with Bakoura Buduma, a Boko Haram leader who remains loyal to Shekau and whose fighters are resisting ISWAP consolidation, according to security sources.
“They are the masterminds behind some of the kidnappings in the northwest,” one of the military sources said.
Both sources said Boko Haram militants also trained gangs, known locally as bandits, to use anti-aircraft guns, explosives and other weapons.
A military spokesperson could not be reached immediately for comment. Kaduna state officials also did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation.
Kidnappings, conflicts and insurgency in Nigeria. By Gal ROMA (AFP) A Nigerian security agency statement earlier this month warned that a Boko Haram commander and infantrymen were moving across the country from their Borno base to Kaduna state in the northwest.
Analysts say there are growing signs that jihadists and bandit gangs are developing deeper ties where both stand to gain: Jihadists supply weapons while profiting from criminal activity.
Northwestern Nigeria has long been plagued by bandit groups, but this year attacks and kidnappings have increased as the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic fuels crime.
Criminal gangs have targeted schools in a series of high-profile mass kidnappings of students and pupils for ransom.
The attacks have also become more brazen. Last month, armed criminals assaulted the country’s elite military college in Kaduna and kidnapped an officer while in June criminal gangs shot down an Air Force plane carrying out operations in their camps. .
The northwestern state of Zamfara, neighboring Kaduna, earlier this month launched a military campaign against the bandits and ordered a total telecommunications outage in an attempt to disrupt the bandits’ communications.
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