ABSTRACT
A question that has often been asked about the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria, but not given a satisfactory answer, is: who is footing the bill? The terror group was not known to have large financial resources, so policy analysts often wondered how they funded the purchase of assault weapons, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), bullets, anti-aircraft (AA) guns, general purpose machine guns (GPMGs) and other munitions of war that they deploy in tactical operations. At one point, Boko Haram fighters rode around in convoys of new Toyota Hilux pickups. The question is: how did they acquire their fleet of 4×4 vehicles? It was once reported that 700 cars were seized from the terror group. 1 How did they purchase that large fleet of motor vehicles? Aside from the cost of weapons and logistics, the terrorists also pay salaries to their fighters.
