[NewsRescue.com] : "Boko Haram: Foreign Terror Via Nigeria's Porous Borders, the Urgent Matter of National Security"

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NewsRescue.com. Details of the article follow; We hope you find this
informative.Best regards, NewsRescueBoko Haram: Foreign Terror Via Nigeria's
Porous Borders, the Urgent Matter of National SecurityApr. 12, 2013

by Lekan Abyomi

Nigeria's shares 773km border stretch with Benin Republic, 87km with Chad and
then an entire stretch of 1,049km with Niger republic and  1,690km with
Cameroon. The Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS announced there are about 1,487
illegal routes to Nigeria through these porous borders.

The level of border insecurity recently cost the Comptroller-General of the NIS
her job and the Minister of Interior, Abba Moro, expressed the seriousness of
the crises. Unfortunately, not much has been done about it, and certainly,
whatever is being done is not nearly fast enough or with little of the tenacity
needed for this problem with high implications in an honest battle with
terrorism.

At the onset of the conversion of Boko Haram the philosophy group into a terror
organization, United States cables as reported by Wikileaks, were following a
certain Abu-Mahjin (Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment, TIDE number
24350378), a Chadian national with ties to al Qaeda, who the US detected was on
mission to organize some sort of terror operation in Nigeria. It is doubtful
that Nigeria paid any attention and initiated preemptive measures to this
foreign hatched mission to destabilize the nation, taking advantage of Nigeria's
porous borders and lax in security.

Since then, there has been in inflow of extremists from Neighboring Nigerian
nations, many with dire economic situations. These hired agents are recruited
and sent in to Nigeria to conduct varying level terrorist activities. It is
suspected that "Abubakar Shekau," himself is a foreigner, and when he was
allegedly shot, he easily, simply "escaped to Mali." From Intelligence, there
are hundreds of training camps in Chad, Niger and Cameroon, being run by
foreigners from as far as the Middle East and Israel regions, where recruits
from these nations are hired and brain washed into thinking they are going to
fight for some "greater cause," and then they are sent into Nigeria to conduct
ops.

Niger is a major haven for these camps, due to the level of insecurity, poverty
and derelict government in the nation ravaged by famine.

Jean Herskovits, an author with the CFR had said January 2nd on the New York
Times, that Boko Haram is a franchise, hired by Northerner and Southerner alike
for perpetration of terror. This franchise makes use of outsourcing, getting
most of its work force - hired assassins, from Nigeria's poverty riddled
neighboring nations.

"The May 21 suicide attack on a police station in Taraba state, on Nigeria's
border with Cameroon, illustrates the growing level of insecurity at this border
post." Uyo Salifu a Researcher with the Transnational Threats and International
Crime Division, Intitute for Security Studies Pretoria said on EFTNGR. "Niger
has been identified as fertile ground for terrorist activity due to its weak
government, socio-economic challenges and the marginalisation of certain
components of society. Furthermore, the existence of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic
Maghreb (AQIM) suggests the presence of Salafist ideology, which Boko Haram is
also rooted in, and adds to Niger's fragile security situation. The spread of
Boko Haram into Niger would therefore create further national and regional
insecurity. While Cameroon's vulnerability to terrorism is not as substantial as
Niger's, socio-economic malaise and dissatisfaction with the government do
exist." hence Boko Haram terror has a two-way implication in Cameroon as well,
due to porous borders.

The abduction and murder of a family of foreigners in Cameroon is just another
example of the consequence of non-tendered borders and the regional nature of
the threat.

June last year, Mohammed Jinjiri Abubakar, the commissioner of Police, Kaduna
State Command, disclosed that nationals of Chad, Cameroon and Niger Republics
are responsible for most of the terrorism acts in the North.Continuing that many
such nationals had been arrested in relation to terrorism across the region.

In March this year, a raid by the SSS in Lagos, captured nine Boko Haram
suspects, including Ibrahim Musa who occupied a 55-bedroom Bayelsa government
house in a Bayelsa state house at 24 Aromire Street in Ijora, Baida, Lagos
state. Ibrahim Musa was an illegal alien who hailed from Chad. Weapons were
found and a bomb was in a cooler in a ceiling. A second raid in Lagos arrested
over 100 Chadians and Nigerian suspects, Colonel Kingsley Umoh, spokesman for
the 81 Division of the Nigerian Army reported that these were handed over to the
Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), Lagos for prosecution and possible
deportation.

Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno, the president of Chad, during the Lake Chad
Basin commission meeting in Libreville, last April, called for a regional force
to defeat Boko Haram, the CAR president Francois Bozize supported this call.
Nigeria, Niger, Libya were in attendance. Sadly, such regional force is yet to
be constituted and the borders remain free for all.

According to Salifu, efforts towards border security include the agreement to
create a Nigeria-Cameroon trans-border security committee. The committee's
establishment should, however, be matched with immediate and precise action to
prevent wide-scale terrorist movements across borders. Action is required to
redouble efforts to secure the countries' vast borders.
Borno's Border Region
While some Boko Haram members have come from the parts of Niger, Chad and
Cameroon that border Borno State and where the three main languages of
Borno—Hausa, Kanuri and Arabic—are spoken, few members are reported to have
come from outside of those three countries or Nigeria.[16] According to one of
Boko Haram founder Muhammad Yusuf's relatives, 40% of Boko Haram's funding
comes from outside of Nigeria, and as many as one-third of its members fled
Nigeria following major clashes with the government in July 2009.
The architect of those clashes was a Nigerien, Abubakar Kilakam. While Kilakam
was arrested and deported to Niger, several other Nigerien Boko Haram leaders
are still in Nigeria, including Ali Jalingo, who masterminded bombings in Borno
State and escaped an attempt to capture him in Benue State on January 7,
2013.[18] Other Boko Haram leaders are reportedly still hiding in Diffa, Niger,
and Boko Haram cells were uncovered in Zinder, Niger in September 2012 and Diffa
in December 2011 and February 2012. Similarly, in 2012, Boko Haram members have
been reported in several primarily Baggara Arabic-speaking cities of Far North
Province, Cameroon, including Fotokol, Kousseri, Mora and the border town of
Banki-Amchide, where on December 19, 2012, Cameroonian security forces arrested
31 suspected Boko Haram members, including two Nigeriens, and confirmed that a
Boko Haram logistics network facilitates "trans-border operations" and that
Boko Haram uses the border area to "regroup after attacks in Nigeria,
preparing for the next attacks."[20] Cameroon's similar characteristics to
Nigeria, such as a relatively poor majority Muslim north, which has seen trade
reduced because of Boko Haram attacks on border markets and stricter border
monitoring, and a wealthier majority Christian south, also make it an ideal
recruiting ground for the group.
In terms of geography, Niger's vast desert provides an ideal training ground
and refuge for Boko Haram, while the Mandara Mountains along the
Nigeria-Cameroon border, where state authority is weak and smuggling is
pervasive, provides an ideal supply route, hideout and staging ground. The
recent upsurge in Boko Haram attacks in rural towns at the foothills of the
Mandara Mountains in Adamawa State, where in 2004 Muhammad Yusuf's followers
had their first major battles with the Nigerian security forces, support the
claims made by high-level Nigerian and Cameroonian officials that Boko Haram is
operating from bases in Cameroon. Some of these attacks include: a December 13,
2012, burning of a police station in Madagali, five miles from the border; a
December 28 night raid on a prison, customs office, education administration
complex and Divisional Police Headquarters in Maiha, three miles from the
border, which killed 21 people, and a separate attack on Fufore, five miles from
the border; a December 31 attack on the Divisional Police Headquarters in Hong,
25 miles from the border; and a January 3, 2013, attack involving
rocket-propelled grenades fired at government buildings and a police station in
Song, 20 miles from the border.
Boko Haram takes advantage of Niger, Chad and Cameroon for refuge, training,
transit, attack planning and recruitment. Boko Haram does not, however, carry
out attacks in those countries, possibly to prevent those governments from
cracking down on the group and because Boko Haram's grievances are rooted in
Nigeria. The porosity of the border region is one reason why the first Boko
Haram base called "Afghanistan" in 2003 was situated only two miles from
Nigeria's border with Niger. As reports of Boko Haram in Niger and Cameroon
have shown, the border region still serves similar purposes for Boko Haram as it
did in 2003.
Boko Haram Diplomacy in Saudi Arabia and Senegal
Boko Haram appears to have a "diplomatic" presence in Saudi Arabia, in
addition to other militant connections. In August 2012, a Boko Haram faction led
by Abu Muhammed negotiated in Mecca with a Nigerian government team led by
National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki and advised by General Muhammed Shuwa.
President Jonathan has rejected new talks with this faction, however, on the
grounds that "there can be no dialogue" with Boko Haram because it is
"faceless." Abu Muhammed's proposed negotiating team included, among
others, the Cameroonian Mamman Nur, who lost a power struggle with Shekau to
lead what became the main Boko Haram faction after Muhammad Yusuf's death in
July 2009.Therefore, Abu Muhammed's claim to represent Shekau's faction is
likely false, and Shekau's spokesman called Abu Muhammed a "fake" in
August 2012.
Boko Haram also has a deeper history of involvement in Saudi Arabia: Muhammad
Yusuf found refuge in Saudi Arabia to escape a Nigerian security forces
crackdown in 2004; Boko Haram has reportedly received funding with the help of
AQIM from organizations in the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia; and Boko
Haram's spokesman claimed that Boko Haram leaders met with al-Qa`ida in Saudi
Arabia during the lesser hajj (umra) in August 2011. More recently, the leader
of a Boko Haram cell that was responsible for the November 25, 2012, attack on a
church inside a military barracks in Jaji, Kaduna, was in Saudi Arabia during
the months prior to the attack.
Boko Haram may also have had dialogue with the Nigerian government in Senegal,
where in August 2012 the imam of the Grand Mosque in Bignona, southern Senegal,
claimed that Boko Haram was recruiting local youths.[29] In December 2012,
Nigerian media reported that President Jonathan's adviser and minister of
Niger Delta affairs, Godsday Orubebe, held secret negotiations with Boko Haram
commanders in Senegal arranged by the Malian and Senegalese secret services.[30]
Based on Orubebe's credentials as the "author" of the government's
arms-for-amnesty peace program with Niger Delta militants in 2009, he may have
discussed the release of Boko Haram members from prison and "compensation"
for the destruction of mosques and Boko Haram members' homes, which are
demands shared by all Boko Haram factions. Ref 4
The anti terror Islamic group, Muslims Against Terror (MUSLIMAG.com) in August
last year, declared Abubakar Shekau wanted. In their poster released, they
described his current location as being anywhere between Chad, Mali, Niger and
Cameroon. Their poster served an important matter in maturely dealing with
security -- multi-national approach. Up till this time, the Nigerian government
had not declared any of the terrorists it knew, wanted. Till today there are no
posters and flyers in Nigeria and neighboring countries, or even public lists of
wanted persons. Without such multi-national control, the governments insincerity
or lack of wherewithal in dealing with terror is obvious. People in Niger or
Chad may know many of these terrorists by name and face. But these terrorists
are not declared wanted and as such, they live freely in these countries.

The government of Niger has insisted on cooperating with Nigeria on joint border
patrol. Last October, during the Sixth session of the Nigeria-Niger Joint
Commission for Corporation in Niamey, Nigeria and Niger agreed to patrol the
borders together. How soon, how serious and how reliable is the question to be
asked.

United States drones, which reports say, are already patrolling the border to
Mali, are highly infective and potentially disastrous to all local nations
involved. Drones are highly inaccurate and serve Washington's interests. Niger,
already in poverty and famine, buys most of its food from Nigeria. legal trade
and business will be hampered as drones target and kill as many innocent people
as they do suspects. Nigeria needs its security agents, its security equipment
and team.

Nigeria's borders from the Western side are also of grave concern. Our Seme-Togo
border needs serious attention as a matter of urgent National security. Ghanaian
border agents have caught several gun-runners transporting ammo for terrorism,
to Nigeria. It is not surprising that they only get caught on the Ghanian Aflao
border side. Once they pass there, it's home safe to Nigeria. May last year,
Kweku Buffuor (30); Amusu Samuel Taiwo (35) from Ogun State; Sunday Eze (35)
from Anambra State; Kofi Aboagye (52); and Kwesi Asamoah (35) were captured by
Ghana security agents while driving a truck loaded with 65 pump-action guns and
other ammunition, and headed for Nigeria. This was the second time Taiwo Samuel
was being caught for the same crime. He was caught gun running and released in
2009 by Nigerian and Ghanaian authorities.

As Nigerians stay willingly and intentionally distracted with ethnicism and a
ridiculous debate about a meaningless amnesty, foreigners continue to plot and
penetrate our borders with weapons from Libya and plans from half-way across the
globe, to seed terror and death in Nigeria. Unless such "amnesty" will be
accorded to citizens of Niger republic, Chad, Cameroon and all the way to the
grand masters in al Qaeda control centers who are currently taking advantage of
our insecurity, lack of national cohesiveness, government and security agent
greed -- which of course, will hamper any serious attempts at border control --
and the ever porous borders.

It is time for the government of Nigeria to focus on our borders. Serious
investment must be made in this regard, with recruitment of staff and even
volunteers, and the purchase of sophisticated equipment. This is a matter of
urgency. Together with our neighbors, our borders need to be sealed. This urgent
matter of national security is the prime action in any serious attempt to abate
Boko Haram.

References:

1. http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/02/nigerias-porous-borders/

2. http://allafrica.com/stories/201205310988.html

3.
http://newsrescue.com/us-boko-haram-is-a-franchise-hired-by-north-south-muslim-and-christian-alike-nytimes/

4. http://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/boko-harams-international-connectionsLink to
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