In February last year, two women were arrested in Kolofata, Cameroon, near the Nigerian border, for carrying tiny amounts of ammonium nitrate fertiliser. Kolofata’s gendarmerie brigade commander Ntsie Virgile, who told ENACT about this incident, said the women were arrested because the fertiliser has the potential to be used as a precursor for or component of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) used by Boko Haram.
The Boko Haram insurgency in the Lake Chad Basin has created distinct opportunities for women living in state-controlled areas in Cameroon, Chad and Niger, according to Professor Mbarkoutou Mahamat of Cameroon’s University of Maroua.
Boko Haram, typically known for its conservative views on women’s social status, has permitted women greater mobility because they know women are usually above suspicion with law enforcement authorities.
Anthropologist Babette Koultchoumi says that some women have capitalised on this freedom, serving as crucial links between territories controlled by Boko Haram and those governed by the state. Many of these women had previous ties to Boko Haram and emerged from ‘jihad’ without their husbands, while others are displaced individuals or refugees navigating the ripple effects of the ongoing crisis.
The jihadists use women for logistics, spying and facilitating extensive illicit trade. Women play a significant role in trafficking specific and important objects through checkpoints and across borders because they are rarely subjected to body searches – if women are searched and apprehended, they are typically briefly interrogated and then released.
Women purchase items that can be used as explosive precursors and IED components from markets in Cameroon, Chad and Niger. This includes fertiliser, electrical wires, 9-volt batteries, cell phones, refrigerator compressors, hollow-head metal pots and metal plumbing pipes. They then transport these items across the border into Nigeria.
The women usually set out early in the morning, just as the soldiers are leaving their checkpoints to hand over to vigilance committees. Checkpoints along the border are designed to facilitate the movement of women and children, who are vital to the flow of essential supplies.
Each woman is permitted to carry up to five packages. According to Boukar Limane, the second-in-command of the Kerawa vigilance group, women often conceal IED components in various ways, such as strapping them to their backs disguised as ‘babies’, hiding them in four-litre bottles or concealing components under pillows. It is common for them to divide these goods into smaller portions and distribute them between their children before crossing the checkpoints.
Once they have crossed the checkpoints, the women either deliver the supplies directly to remote Boko Haram safe havens or deposit the products at pre-designated spots in the bush or at farms. The Boko Haram operatives who collect the orders pay the women in cash or compensate them with sheep, goats and other looted items, according to a former Boko Haram zone commander who has become an informant for the Cameroonian army. This bartering system fuels a thriving war economy in these troubled areas.
In Boko Haram-controlled areas, women have also been known to dig up unexploded rockets from downed Nigerian army helicopters, despite the risks to their personal safety. They sell these to the Boko Haram militants for the equivalent of €75 each. Boko Haram’s bomb makers unscrew the rocket tube and retrieve the contents, each of which can be used to make around 30 victim-triggered IEDs, such as landmines.
A former deputy commander with the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJFT) told ENACT that many of the women who have been arrested said they were involved in this illicit activity because of their precarious economic situations and the need to provide for their families. He said that limited livelihood options, insecurity and even climate change have driven many women to transform their vulnerability and perceived innocence into profitability through trafficking.
A Chadian security official told ENACT that transporting a single packet of fertiliser for Boko Haram could be more lucrative than cultivating a modest plot of land. The prices fetched by trafficking these items, and the unlikelihood of being caught or punished, render this form of trafficking profitable and low risk.
An MNJTF officer told ENACT that the women often claim to be unaware that these components are used to make explosives. This is plausible given the dual-use nature of these explosive precursors and IED components, which have both legitimate and illicit applications.
For security reasons, authorities have occasionally prohibited the sale of fertilisers that could be used to manufacture IEDs. However, these bans are often quickly rescinded to prevent a food crisis, as agriculture in this region relies on fertiliser.
IEDs are widely used by insurgents. MNJTF Force Commander Major General Godwin Mutkut told the 5th Edition of the Lake Chad Basin Governors’ Forum in January that IEDs were responsible for 60% of force casualties. He said that the MNJTF recorded 157 Boko Haram attacks in 2024, including 54 against civilians, 34 against MNJTF troops and 70 IED attacks.
Islamic State West Africa Province propaganda has showcased its ability to weaponise drones with IEDs, increasing their threat. The use of IEDs also significantly disrupts the logistics of national armies and sometimes results in reluctance to conduct security patrols.
But the impact extends beyond military-related casualties and operations, affecting civilian populations. The growing prevalence and sophistication of these devices have coincided with a troubling rise in civilian deaths and injuries. In many regions, the proliferation of IEDs hampers the effective deployment of humanitarian aid and restricts access to individuals in emergency situations. IEDs also limit the movement of individuals and goods within already volatile regions.
Focusing on women’s involvement in the trafficking of IED components in the Lake Chad Basin may help to disrupt the networks that facilitate the trafficking of these harmful items, in alignment with counter-IED good practices.
It is important for states to adopt a comprehensive criminal justice approach to women involved in trafficking explosive precursors and IED components – one that is based on the evidence rather than preconceived ideas of women’s innocence. Such an approach, which would include investigation, arrest, prosecution and appropriate penalties, may discourage women from becoming traffickers for Boko Haram.
At the same time, initiatives aimed at raising awareness and providing education regarding the risks and harms associated with IEDs and dual-use components in affected communities are an important tool for states and civil society organisations.
Reforming legislative and regulatory frameworks on dual-use components will also help to draw the line between illegal trafficking and legal trade.
Raoul Sumo Tayo, Senior Researcher – Central Africa, ENACT, ISS
Image: Dominique Catton/EU Flickr
