Boko Haram's Source Of Weapons Revealed

After many speculations on where the Islamist militant group, Boko Haram, are getting the weapons they frequently use to unleash terror in the north-eastern states of Nigeria and Abuja, their main sources have been unveiled. According to US network TV NBC, most of the Islamic terror group’s weapons are either stolen from Nigerian military stocks or purchased on the thriving Central African arms black market, say the experts, including current and former U.S. officials. While many have often wondered where the insurgents source their weaponry from, given both the sophistication and the sheer number, ThisDay reports that the group blamed for last month’s kidnapping of nearly 300 Nigerian schoolgirls routinely raids police stations and military bases in search of weapons It was also gathered that in some cases, Boko Haram sympathizers in the Nigerian military abet the theft. “There are hints that sympathizers in the Nigerian army will deliberately leave doors of armouries unlocked for Boko Haram," said John Campbell, U.S. ambassador to Nigeria from 2004 to 2007. It could also be recalled that a top military officer was indicted several years ago in Kaduna, for supplying the weapons of the Nigerian army to Niger Delta militants, led by, now jailed, Henry Okah. The terror group has been conducting its campaign of terror in the northern states of Nigeria and neighboring Cameroon on the cheap, making mayhem with a makeshift collection of small arms, automatic weapons, rifles, rocket- propelled grenades and mortars, experts on the turbulent region say. The report also stated that apart from weapons, the rebels frequently seize non-lethal equipment that helps them carry out their terror attacks, quoting one U.S. official. Apart from benefiting from sympathizers in the Nigerian military, the Islamic terror group is said to be able to purchase small arms and occasionally some larger weaponry in nearby conflict zones, “probably Libya, probably Chad.