Nigeria’s Boko Haram at War over Luxury Lifestyle of Leaders

Infighting is taking place behind the scenes of Boko Haram, the militant Islamist group terrorising Nigeria, as the increasingly luxuriously lifestyles of its leaders leave its more junior members jealous, its spokesman has claimed.

Abu Qaqa, the group's spokesman, was arrested in early February. According to the Nigerian news website ThisDayLive, sources working for the state security service disclosed some of the claims he made under interrogation.

The revelations include confirmation that most of the vehicles used by the sect are stolen.

"We snatch vehicles at gunpoint. We use the less exotic ones for suicide bombings and just load [the] vehicles with bombs, drive them near our target, park and get out, leaving them to explode," the report quotes Qaqa as saying.

He also said that the sect's leaders, such as Abu Shekau, keep the most expensive cars for themselves, leading to envy arising among the group's more junior members.

Qaqa, 42, also reportedly said that while Shekau frequently promises to sell the cars and reinvest the money into the group's operations, he always fails to follow through.

"The leadership [Shekau] takes the expensive ones, always saying that he would arrange for them to be sold and the proceeds put into jihad.

"This is never done. Most of those vehicles end up with him and the Kanuri [tribe] members of our sect."

While Qaqa criticised the group's leadership, he made it clear that leaving the sect is not an option.

"Once you are in, you are in. If you attempt to leave, you are seen as a traitor who must die," he explained.

While Nigerian authorities maintain they are detaining Qaqa, following his arrest Boko Haram issued a statement saying that the person arrested was named Abu Dardaa, who is just a member of the sect and not its spokesman.