The United Nations has revealed that the Boko Haram sect spends as high as N2 billion to carry out terrorists attacks just as the Senegalese authorities have arrested two suspected Boko Haram female members with 500 million CFA (about N164 million) cash.
Deputy Director of Assessment and Technical Assistance for the UN Counter-terrorism Committee, Hassan Baage, told a gathering of West African Security experts in Dakar, Senegal, that the extremist sect’s annual budget was believed to be up to $10 million.
The Associated Press (AP) which covered the Dakar event quoted the UN official as calling for closer scrutiny of the financing of extremist groups, including Boko Haram.
“We must detect the flow of money that finances their activities and measures must be implemented to freeze the funds. According to reports that we’ve consulted, the budget of Boko Haram is around $10 million per year,” Baage said.
Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga, a special envoy for the African Union, said at the event that a stronger institution was needed to police and block the financing of extremism.
“The transfer of money through informal circles means huge amounts of money can circulate in these regions uncontrolled,” he said.
Boko Haram’s financing could come from crime cartels, false charity organisations and blackmail, said other experts at the forum on fighting extremism. Other analysts said the militants are known to have been paid millions for hostages, mainly French and Cameroonians taken in Cameroon, though Cameroon’s government denies paying ransoms.
