For many Nigerians, it is a cheering news that six of its citizens have been convicted in the United Arab Emirate (UAE) for financing the operations of Boko Haram in Nigeria.
Boko Haram pose an existential threat to Nigeria and has appeared unbeatable since 2010 when it began its violent campaign.
Nigeria has made some gains against Boko Haram fighters but little impact on disabling the group’s sources of funding and weapons.
It was therefore a welcome development when six Nigerian nationals were convicted by an Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for funding Boko Haram.
According to the report published by the Daily Trust, the convicted felons were responsible for wiring $782,000 (almost N300 million) to the terrorists between 2015 and 2019.
Apart from the names of the convicted felons, nothing said about who they are.
The report said: “Two of the convicts, Surajo Abubakar Muhammad and Saleh Yusuf Adamu were sentenced to life imprisonment; while the remaining four, Ibrahim Ali Alhassan, AbdurRahman Ado Musa, Bashir Ali Yusuf, and Muhammad Ibrahim Isa were handed ten-year imprisonment respectively.”
The report also listed two networks through which the convicted terrorists used in funneling the money to Boko Haram.
“One of them, Alhaji Sa’idu, who is allegedly based in Nigeria and said to be a senior undercover Boko Haram member responsible for facilitating the group’s access to funds from its sponsors” they said.
“Also fingered in some of the transitions is one Alhaji Ashiru, said to be a Nigerian government official and a senior undercover Boko Haram member, who facilitated the transfer of misappropriated public funds to the group.”
The Daily Trust quoted Nigeria’s attorney general, Abubakar Malami, of saying that: “Nigerian government has written firstly for copies of the proceedings, which will give us the opportunity to see whether justice was done or not. And on whether they have committed the crime, we requested to know who and who are involved, so that the Nigerian government will know what to do next.”
Malami’s comment has not excited some Nigerians, one of whom is Somto Onuchukwu, a social media influencer.
He said: Buhari’s regime sounds like they’re hoping that the six Nigerians convicted in Dubai for sponsoring Boko Haram gets a fair sentence at the UAE Supreme Court. I’m not supposed to be surprised, but I am petrified!”
A twitter post by @Afobaje said: “Those six Nigerians convicted in Dubai for allegedly sponsoring Boko Haram must provide the authority with more information regarding their activities and their accomplices. I just hope the Nigerian Government won’t frustrate the effort because of their susceptibility too.”
@siradamsjr tweeted: “God that used Dubai police to expose Hushpuppi and the six Nigerians sponsoring Boko Haram, may He continue to expose those committing and sponsoring heinous crimes against humanity including looting, diverting of funds in Nigeria.”