Boko Haram Has Northern Nigeria Politician Patronage

Nigerian politicians are funding members of a radical Islamist sect responsible for dozens of shootings and bombings this year in the north and capital of Africa’s most populous nation, the state security service (SSS) has said. Boko Haram, whose name translates as “Western education is forbidden”, has carried out near daily attacks in the remote northeast in Borno state, where Nigeria borders Cameroon, Niger and Chad.

Although parts of the sect say they want sharia law more widely applied across Nigeria and threaten international targets, most factions are focused on local issues and carry out politically motivated attacks.

• The SSS, Nigeria’s intelligence agency, said in a press briefing on Monday that on Nov. 3 they arrested Ali Sanda Umar Konduga who admitted to being one of the spokesmen for Boko Haram, using the name Usman al-Zawahiri. 
• “He was a former political thug operating under a group widely known as ECOMOG,” said Marilyn Oga, an SSS spokeswoman.
• ECOMOG was a militia group funded by politicians several years ago in Borno and some former members have now joined Boko Haram, diplomats and security experts have said. 
• “His arrest further confirms the Service position that some of the Boko Haram extremists have political patronage and sponsorship. 
• "This is more so as al-Zawahiri has so far made valuable confessions in this regard," Oga added.
• The SSS said a politician in Borno recruited al-Zawahiri, who attended the press briefing, gave him a new name to portray him as an extremist and paid him to send threatening text messages to judges and rival politicians.

(Al-Zawahiri is also the name of the leader of al Qaeda)

The Rest @ Reuters.