Recently, troops of the 6 Brigade Nigerian Army / Sector 3 Operation Whirl Stroke in Taraba State captured four suspected Amazonian rebels involved in arms deal using cocoa beans in exchange for arms.
The soldiers, it was learnt, worked on an intelligence report leading to the arrest of four suspected Amazonian rebels at a hotel in Takum town, the headquarters of Takum Local Government Area of the state.
The Army Spokesperson, Captain Oni Olubodunde, said that the suspects were arrested on December 18, 2024 for being suspected of involving using cocoa beans in exchange of arms.
Captain Oni, said that during initial interrogation, the suspects confessed to being part of the rebel groups involved in arms proliferation in exchange of cocoa with their Nigerian collaborators.
Before the arrest of the four suspected Amazonian rebels, there were speculations that the rebels were involved in other criminal activities in Nigeria apart from the alleged arms buying. They were also alleged of trafficking of Amazonian women for prostitution in Nigerian cities and even Europe.
The rebels, it was learnt, use the border in Taraba State for trafficking women and for arms.
Sources in Takum and Kurmi said that a few years ago, at the peak Rose Wood business, Amazonian rebels were alleged to be involved in the trade.
One of the sources told our reporter that Rose Wood worth millions of Naira was brought from the Amazonian zone by the rebels and sold in parts of Takum, Ussa and Kurmi local government areas and the proceeds were allegedly used in purchasing essential items including arms.
“Now that the business of Rose Wood has stopped, the rebels are bringing cocoa beans to sell in Takum and there are allegations that the proceeds, like that of Rose Wood, are being used in buying essential items and arms,” a source said.
Another source said the Cameroonian Army was always suspicious of Nigerian border communities because of their close association with the Amazonian rebels.
“Communities across Cameroon are our brothers and sisters we speak the same language and culture and that was why whenever they were chased by the Cameroonian Army they ran into Nigeria and we hardly reject them,” a resident of one the Nigerian border communities in Kurmi told our reporter .
The resident, who will not want his name mentioned, stated that since the beginning of the Amazonian conflict many people from the troubled area, including women, have crossed into Sardauna, Kurmi, Ussa and Takum local government areas which share a common boundary.
He said the Cameroonian Army has launched series of attacks on Nigerian border communities over accusations that the rebels were accommodated by Nigerians.
Another source in Takum also told Daily Trust that Amazonian rebels have been bringing Cocoa beans into Nigeria to sell and buy arms. This, he added, has been going on in Takum, Ussa and Kurmi for many years even though it was still a speculation because no arrest was made until last week.
He said there was a similar accusation at the peak of Rose Wood business but it is difficult to prove because such deals were always done underground.
He said buyers of both RoseWood and Cocoa brought from Cameroon are people that came from different parts of the country using the locals as middle men.
“Cocoa is very expensive now because a 100 kg bag of cocoa beans is sold at N1.4 million and those buying the commodity are from different parts of the country.
“Nobody can really tell you if the cocoa beans are sold in exchange for arms but there is speculation over such a deal. The same thing was said during the Rose Wood business, that the rebels are bringing Rose Wood in exchange for arms but no arrest was made at that time,” the source told Daily Trust.
The source stated that both people at the border sites are farmers and producing cocoa in commercial quantity and Takum and Baissa are main cocoa trading centres in the state.
He said, however, Nigerian communities at border towns have suffered attacks from both Cameroonian security and the rebels but nobody can tell the real reasons behind the attacks.
According to him, the rebels too have attacked many residents of Nigerian border towns alleging the members of the community leak out their activities to the Cameroonian security.
Some of these attacks include the one on Manga village in Takum Local Government Area in 2021 where the village head and 13 others were killed while 20 people got missing.
Commenting on why the Cameroonian army attacked the community, the spokesperson of the Manga community, Abubakar said, “They are our kinsmen; we speak the same language. So when they ran to us we had no option than to give them refuge and that is our only offence.”
There were also similar attacks on Mairogo and Tosso villages in Kurmi Local Government Area of the state by Cameroonian soldiers a few years ago.
The residents of the area raised the alarm of the attacks at that time.
The residents alleged that the soldiers from Cameroon had claimed that they were in the villages searching for the fleeing rebels that had been agitating for a Republic.
Sources said “The residents of Mairogo and Tosso villages are repeatedly being intimidated by Cameroonian soldiers, who claimed they are searching for Ambazonian agitators who fled Cameroon in the heat of their clash and taking refuge in some communities in the area.
“The residents of Mairogo and Tosso villages are repeatedly being intimidated by Cameroonian soldiers, who claimed they are searching for Ambazonian agitators who fled Cameroon in the heat of their clash and took refuge in some communities in the area.”
However, the Police Public Relations Officer Taraba Command, SP Usman Abdullahi when contacted over the arrest of the suspected Amazonian rebels by soldiers said no such suspects were handed over to the police by the army.
The Army Spokesperson, Captain Oni Olubodunde did not respond to text and Whatsapp messages sent to him on whether the suspects arrested were handed over to the police or arraigned to court.
@Daily Trust