A United Nations report on Thursday suggested that part of the arms being used by the dreaded sect, Boko Haram, may have come from Libya, which is at present in the throes of crisis.
The arms, the report also suggested, could as well be in the hands of Al Qaeda and that Boko Haram has increasing links to the North African wing of al Qaeda.
“The governments of the countries visited indicated that, in spite of efforts to control their borders, large quantities of weapons and ammunition from Libyan stockpiles were smuggled into the Sahel region,” the report said.
The weapons include “rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns with anti-aircraft visors, automatic rifles, ammunition, grenades, explosives (Semtex), and light anti-aircraft artillery (light calibre bi-tubes) mounted on vehicles.”
More advanced weapons such as surface-to-air-missiles and man-portable air defence systems, known as MANPADS, also may have reached groups in the region, the report said.
UN Special Envoy to Libya, Ian Martin, however, told the Security Council that Libya’s missing stocks of MANPADS have largely remained inside the country.
The report said “some of the weapons may be hidden in the desert and could be sold to terrorist groups like al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Boko Haram or other criminal organisations.”
The report said Nigeria was not the only country worried about the activities of Boko Haram.
It said the group also was in Niger, adding that some governments believed Boko Haram members from Nigeria and Chad had received training at al Qaeda training camps in Mali in 2011, adding: “Although Boko Haram has concentrated its terrorist acts inside Nigeria, seven of its members were arrested while transiting through the Niger to Mali.”
The report noted that links between al Qaeda and Boko Haram have become “a growing source of concern for the countries of the region.”
Meanwhile, the Secretary General of the UN, Ban Ki-Moon, has promised to assist Nigeria in tackling the Boko Haram menace.
Ki-Moon said the UN would do all it can to ensure the activities of Boko Haram are curtailed.
Ki-Moon spoke on Thursday in relation to the UN report on the dreaded sect.