Aside accusing Nigerian government of paying huge sums of money to procure the release of over 100 Dapchi school girls dramatically abducted by Islamic insurgents, Boko Haram, the UN report also pointed to a cash-dominant economy as a major reason why the insurgents resort to kidnapping.

Boko Haram sect members have found a lucrative business in abduction of Nigerians and to release their captives they are paid huge sums in cash by the Nigerian government. The UN survey attributes this to a steady flow of cash in the system.

“The predominance in the region of the cash economy, without controls, is conducive to terrorist groups funded by extortion, charitable donations, smuggling, remittances and kidnapping.  In Nigeria, 111 schoolgirls from the town of Dapchi were kidnapped on 18 February 2018 and released by ISWAP on 21 March 2018 in exchange for a large ransom payment,” the report said.

The report noted that Boko Haram (QDe.138)68 and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) have had fear and dominance impact in their areas of control, including the Lake Chad basin.

This revelation was part of a letter dated 16 July 2018 from the Chair of the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) concerning Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Da’esh), Al-Qaida and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities addressed to the President of the Security Council.

The common thread in the operations of these groups which bear different names according to jurisdictions and areas of operation is they thrive off the huge cash proceeds from abductions.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia said Friday it had contributed 100 million dollars for “stabilisation projects” in areas recaptured from Islamic State militants in north-eastern Syria.

“The funds will focus on projects to restore livelihoods and essential services in the areas of health, agriculture, electricity, water, education, transportation [key roads and bridges], and rubble removal,” the Saudi embassy in Washington said in a statement.

It added that the money would help facilitate the return of Syrians displaced by the violence and ensure that Islamic State “cannot re-emerge to threaten Syria, its neighbours, or plan attacks against the international community.”

North-eastern Syria includes the city of al-Raqqa, the de facto capital of Islamic State.

The region is mostly controlled by the Syrian Democratic Fores (SDF), a Kurd-led militia supported by the U.S.

Oil-rich Saudi Arabia is a partner to a U.S.-led international coalition that has fought Islamic State in war-torn Syria since 2014.

In recent months, the radical organization has suffered setbacks and lost territory in Syria in separate campaigns by Russia-backed Syrian government forces and SDF.

Saudi Arabia is a major backer of rebels, who are fighting to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Supported by Russians, al-Assad’s forces have recently regained large swathes of territory from West-backed moderate rebels and militants in different parts of the country.