?…Stresses plan to have separate Islamic country
Militants belonging to the Islamic State-backed faction of Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), formerly known as Jam?’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jih?d, have organised daw?t (preaching) in some villages in Borno State.
In pictures released by ISWAP, sect members were seen publicly engaging with residents of the State, around Lake Chad.
The images may be part of the sects efforts to counter statements by the Nigerian military that the Islamist insurgent fighters were on a steady retreat, with troops seizing a sizeable territory hitherto occupied and controlled by members of the terrorist sect.
It was gathered that during the Dawah programme, the insurgents appealed to villagers to join the group as militants and support their cause to establish an Islamic caliphate. They assured them of good governance, better security and basic amenities as soon as they had a new country.
The group also distributed welfare packages to many households, in a new recruitment drive. Packages said to have been distributed by ISWAP included rice, beans, millet, maize, sugar, spaghetti and cash gifts.
Recall that a 2019 report by the International Crisis Group, a non-profit think tank, observed that ISWAPs approach to recruiting new fighters proved effective.
Despite breaking away from the Abubakar Shekau-led Boko Haram faction in 2016, the population of its fighters had increased, according to estimates.
Although its leadership has been largely ethnic Kanuri, ISWAP has recruited significantly among lacustrine communities, notably the ethnic Buduma, many of whom earn a living from fishing, the group wrote.
The Institute for Security Studies, (ISS), has made similar observations.
Often ISWAP exploits’ gaps in governance by trying to prove that it can provide essential services in the areas under its control.
