(By Timothy Olanrewaju – MAIDUGURI)
Boko Haram is said to be engaging in cattle rustling to raise funds for its terror activities, having infiltrated some cattle markets in Borno, putting up agents to front for them.
Borno State Commander of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Ibrahim Abdullahi, explained in an interview with Daily Sun yesterday in Maiduguri that the intelligence unit of the command, with other security agents, recently arrested three suspected Boko Haram members attempting to sell cattles believed to have been stolen by their commanders (amirs) at a cattle market in the capital city.
Abdullahi spoke shortly after a meeting with the leadership of Myetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association in Nigeria (MACBAN) at the NSCDC office to address the crisis facing the cattle business in the state.
“Boko Haram often transport rustled cattles to the city and they also have their agents who come to the cattle market as middle men for cattle business. They are so ingenious that they tell you the marks or signs on the bodies of the cattle. (But) unknown to traders in the market they are (actually) Boko Haram agents claiming cattle that have been rustled. So they buy off these cattle and resell it in the market to raise money to buy food, drugs, medication or even arms,” Abdullahi said.
The commander said investigations on the three suspects arrested at the market later revealed that one of the suspects “is a Boko Haram driver while the other is a Boko Haram member.”
“The third one is a Boko Haram agent helping them sell rustled cattle,” he disclosed.
He said intelligence sharing and collaboration between security agencies and regular citizens led to the arrest of the three suspects, urging people to help with useful information to end the insurgency and terrorism in the country.