A breakaway Boko Haram faction known as the Islamic State in West Africa has seized some towns in Borno and Yobe states, providing protection to Muslim residents and collecting taxes from them, Reuters reports.
The Federal Government and the Defence Headquarters have, however, described the report as a tissue of lies.
ISWA, which is led by Abu Musab al-Barnawi, the son of Boko Haram founder, Muhammed Yusuf, reportedly, gives out seeds and fertilisers and provides safe pasture for herdsmen for a fee.
According to herdsmen who spoke to Reuters, ISWA provides safe grazing for about N2,500 ($8) a cow and N1,500 ($5) for smaller animals. ISWA also runs slaughterhouses for the cattle, taking a cut for each animal, as well as from other activities like gathering firewood.
The group, which is said to have between 3,000 and 5,000 fighters, is believed to have strong links with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, the world’s most notorious terrorist organisation.
Its fighters have the power to carry out targeted attacks like the February kidnapping of 100 schoolgirls from Dapchi and a deadly raid on a Nigerian military base in March.
A map produced by the United States development agency in February and seen by Reuters shows how ISWA territory extends more than 100 miles into Borno and Yobe, where the Federal Government claims terrorists have been ‘technically defeated.’
The US map paints a similar picture, with ISWA operating in much of Borno.ISWA has so far proven intractable in its Lake Chad bases, where troops have been unable to make effective inroads, according to a Western diplomat who follows the group. The Nigerian military had “completely lost the initiative against the insurgency,” they said.