MAIDUGURI — Borno State Police Command has arrested a woman on suspicion of trying to smuggle assault rifles hidden in bags  of maize from neighbouring Chad to help arm a radical Islamic sect.

The 37-year-old mother of seven was caught in possession of ten AK-47 rifles hidden in the bags after travelling by boat across Lake Chad, which sits on Nigeria’s remote northeastern border with Chad and Cameroon, police said.

According to the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mohamed Jinjiri Abubakar, “The illegal arms were concealed but recovered inside four bags of maize. Available information suggests the suspect arrested was behind the aiding of religious fundamentalists unleashing terror on innocent civilians in Borno”.

Boko Haram, a radical Islamic sect behind an uprising last year which led to clashes in which hundreds died, has been blamed for torching police stations and fatal sniper attacks on police officers and local leaders in Borno in recent weeks.

The group, whose name means “Western education is sinful” in the local Hausa language, wants sharia (Islamic law) more widely applied across Africa’s most populous nation, which is roughly divided into a mostly Muslim north and largely Christian south.

Local authorities have long said Boko Haram is supported by members from neighbouring countries. Hundreds of immigrants have been deported back to Chad, Cameroon and Niger as part of a security crackdown.