Culled from Tribune;
Young Nigerians at the border town of Nigeria and Niger Republic, Diffa, have confessed to be recruits of the Islamist militant group, Boko Haram.
A member of a gang in Niger told the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) that Boko Haram Islamist militants from Nigeria “regularly come across the border, looking for recruits.”
The gang members, in their 20s, said they were paid $3,085 (about N500,000) to join the insurgency and since they were jobless, they were willing to take the cash, but with no interest in protecting Sharia law.
However, they said they were willing to strike if given the assignment to do so, as they blamed their decision to join the militant group on their joblessness.
“They have paid Nigerian naira ($3,085, £1,835) to those of us who followed them over there,” one of the young men said.
“When they come, we inform them about what’s going on, what the security forces are up to.
“We have no jobs; some of us are still at high school, but we need money. Violence has become a form of work for us.”
These confessions were revealed in a documentary published by the BBC, on Tuesday, after Thomas Fessy, a BBC reporter visited Diffa region in Niger Republic.
BBC made contacts with this local gang, who claimed they collaborated with Boko Haram and agreed.
According to BBC documentary, five of these young Nigerians said they had already joined the militant Boko Haram sect, while two other members were killed in operations.
In total there are about a dozen gang members in a tiny, dark room, built with local mud-bricks.
When the reporter asked them: “If you are asked to launch an attack here, will you be ready to do that?”
Their response: “Yes, we are ready. We have no job, so, we are ready. That is what we are here for.”
When the BBC reporter asked if they agreed with Boko Haram’s reason for fighting, they answered in unison: “No. We only do it for the money.”
Arriving one by one to meet the BBC crew earlier on a street corner in Diffa, they all wore skinny jeans, bright coloured T-shirts and shiny chains, like those seen around the necks of American rappers on music videos.
Their attitude and brand new clothes made them stand out when they walked down the dusty streets of Diffa.
The fashion style is clearly inspired by Western consumerism rather than Islamist militancy.
“We break into houses for cash; sometimes we beat people for money, we steal their animals so we can eat and then we gather up and take Tramol (an opiate drug), smoke ganja (marijuana) and drink alcohol,” one of the gang members said.
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