Weapons from Ukraine End up in the Hands of Boko Haram in Lake Chad Basin

The weapons pipeline to Ukraine, fed extensively by the U.S. and its European allies, has at least one confirmed outflow in Africa. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari told the 16th Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) in Abuja on Nov. 29 that the Russia/Ukraine conflict and other violent situations in the Sahel region of West Africa had compounded Boko Haram terrorism in the Lake Chad Basin region. According to the Sahara Reporter, he said though a lot had been done to decimate the strength of the Boko Haram terror group and other violent extremist groups in the region, terrorist threats persist.

“Regrettably, the situation in the Sahel and the raging war in Ukraine serve as major sources of weapons and fighters that bolster the ranks of the terrorists in Lake Chad Region. A substantial proportion of the arms and ammunition procured to execute the war in Libya, continues to find its way to the Lake Chad Region and other parts of the Sahel. Weapons being used for the war in Ukraine and Russia are equally beginning to filter to the region,” he said.

Touching on the means of developing the entire region by re-filling the dwindling Lake Chad, President Buhari noted that the LCBC has “intensified our efforts at ensuring that the drive to revitalize the Lake Chad through the Inter-Basin Water Transfer Project attracts regional and international attention”.