Boko Haram militants who have been causing insurgencies in Cameroon and Nigeria lately are said to be funded by some people in Nigeria as per the account of one Dr. Stephen Davis. A Nigerian website, Nigeria Camera, has claimed that the Islamic terrorist sect, Boko Haram, is funded through the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.
The claim was made in an article published on the site, recently. The website quotes an Australian, Dr. Stephen Davis, as the main source of the information.
The Australian, who reportedly had close links with Boko Haram, had worked as a go-between for the Nigerian Government during negotiations. He is said to have made the claim last weekend.
“Davis, who said he was disclosing all he knew about the Islamic group because he could no longer bear what the kidnapped Chibok girls were going through, affirmed that Boko Haram commanders told him that a senior official of Nigeria’s Central Bank (names withheld) was fully involved in the funding of the insurgency,” partly reads the article posted on the website.
Dr. Davis was quoted as having stated in another online publication, The Cable, that Western Countries could not trace the majority of the source of funding to Boko Haram because, “it is done through a legal channel: through the gatekeeper; the CBN.” Such a situation, he went on, makes it very easy to cover up one of the biggest suppliers of arms and military uniforms to Boko Haram, who currently lives in Cairo, Egypt.
Without revealing the name of the man in Egypt, the online publication quoted the Australian as saying: “He is the recipient of the money sent by political sponsors from Nigeria.” To him, the funds go through CBN’s financial system and appear to be a legal transaction.
Dr. Davis is said to have also revealed that three of the suspected masterminds of the recent bombings in Nyanya area in Nigeria’s Federal capital, Abuja, were relatives of the said CBN insider who facilitated movement of funds to the terrorists. He equally revealed that the CBN official who handles the funding is an uncle to three of those arrested in connection with the Nyanya bombings.
As to why he decided to reveal the information only now, Dr. Davis, said he decided to speak now because the Nigerian authorities were not acting fast.
He said also that he was heart-broken by the evil being done to the Chibok girls. Hear him: “I have three daughters. I just cannot stand the thought of what those girls are passing through. I have spoken to an escapee who described how she was being raped for 40 days by the militants. I can’t stand it. It is heart-breaking. Nigerian authorities must act decisively now.”
The Australian also claimed that the terrorists have been using the abducted girls in their captive as bargaining chips to extort money from the Nigerian Government. He is quoted to have said the terrorists are now in groups and that each of the groups has some of the girls who had also been divided into groups in custody.
The online medium quoted the Australian as telling Daily Mail that, but for money politics among the groups within Boko Haram, he would have helped the Nigerian Government to secure the release of about 60 of the girls. Dr. Davis said he was within 15 minutes of achieving this when a rival group of Boko Haram members got wind of the huge sum of money involved and moved the group of girls away from where he was supposed to be met.
The medium quoted other foreign reports as saying the 63-year old former Canon Emeritus at the Coventry Cathedral in the UK, had been negotiating with Boko Haram Commanders for some time before they agreed to release the girls. He is said to have extensive contacts with African terrorist groups.
The article further reads: “Mr. Davis was asked to come to Nigeria by the country’s President for his hostage negotiation expertise, after previously brokering a truce between violent rebels and the Government in the Niger Delta in 2004, when he was working for the oil company, Shell”. He was quoted as having said: “I made a few phone calls to Boko Haram Commanders and they confirmed they were in possession of the girls. They told me they had prepared to release some as a peace deal with the Government. So, I went to Nigeria on the basis of being able to secure their release.
“This is a long process of building trust on both sides. There are several groups to deal with, as the girls are held in several camps. This makes any thought of a rescue highly improbable. The attempt to rescue one group would only endanger the others. Everyday, there was the possibility of the release of the girls,” the negotiator reportedly stated.
He said as he negotiated for the release, the rescue mission was sabotaged by another group who hoped to cash in on the monetary reward being offered by Nigerian police for their retrieval. He concluded: “We travelled for four-and-a-half hours to reach them, but 15 minutes before we arrived, they were kidnapped again by another group who wanted to cash on the reward.”
