Confession of a terrorist: Foreigners fighting for Boko Haram

We do have members from Chad, Niger and Cameroon who actively participate in most of our attacks” Those were the confessional words of a member of the deadly Boko Haram sect, who was arrested by soldiers on Friday. The suspected terrorist, who was paraded before journalists on Friday night by military authorities, as a captured fighter of the Boko Haram terrorist network, confirmed that extremists from the three neighbouring countries are fighting for Boko Haram in the northern uprising. The account, by the alleged captured extremist, reinforces fears that Boko Haram has become one of Africa’s most powerful militant groups, and may be growing closer to al-Qaida affiliates, confirming that radical movements are spilling across national boundaries. The claim of foreign fighters indicates the growing influence of Boko Haram, which started out as a machete-wielding gang and that now wages war with armored cars, rocket-propelled grenades and improvised explosive devices in its mission to force Africa’s largest oil producer and a country of over 140 million to become an Islamic state. The young man refused to give his name, for fear that his family would be targeted. His account sheds new light on life inside the shadowy Boko Haram, which means “western education is forbidden” in the Hausa language. The captured extremist member said religion did not figure in his life as a Nigerian Islamic warrior, insisting his leaders “had never once preached Islam to us.” He said the name of Allah was invoked only when “we are running out of food supply in the bush. Our leaders will assemble us and declare that we would be embarking on a mission for God and Islam.” He added: “I did not see any act of religion in there. We are just killing people, stealing and suffering in the bush.” Boko Haram poses the biggest security threat in years to the cohesion of Nigeria, already riven by sectarian, tribal and regional divisions that often explode into bloodletting, amid power struggles ahead of elections in 2015 that likely will be contested by the current president, a fundamentalist Christian. A harsh military crackdown in three northeastern states covering one-sixth of the country since mid-May has forced Boko Haram out of major cities and towns, but the security forces appear unable to prevent regular extremist attacks on soft targets like school pupils in which hundreds have been killed in recent months. President Goodluck Jonathan’s government, which is struggling to control the Islamic rebellion, for the first time presented an alleged Boko Haram fighter, a 22-year-old walking on crutches because of a bullet wound suffered when he was captured in a recent attack.