Aboubakar Hima: Running Arms Dealer in West Africa

The arms trade in West Africa operates in shadows, where desperate governments meet shadowy brokers amid insurgencies and coups. At the epicenter stands Aboubakar Hima, a Nigerien dealmaker whose nickname “Petit Boubé” belies a career built on inflated invoices, ghost deliveries, and vanishing acts. From pocketing hundreds of millions in Nigerian defense funds to inking a secretive 45 billion CFA franc ($77 million) contract with Senegal’s environment ministry, Hima’s operations expose the fragility of procurement in a region where weapons meant to secure borders often line pockets instead.

As of late 2025, Hima’s saga has intensified. Fresh arrests in Dakar tied to his Senegalese deal—coupled with a damning CENTIF report on suspicious cash flows—have propelled him deeper into fugitivity. He bolted the country days after the March 2024 presidential election, leaving behind raided offices and a trail of questioned officials. Nigeria’s EFCC maintains its decade-long wanted notice, while parliamentary probes in Senegal demand accountability for a pact that armed forest rangers with assault rifles amid Casamance rebel threats. Hima’s story isn’t mere opportunism; it’s a blueprint for corruption that drains treasuries and arms instability, from Boko Haram fronts to Sahel jihads.

Sourced from audits, court dockets, corporate ledgers, and recent enforcement actions, this profile dissects Hima’s footprint—from his unassuming origins to a labyrinth of proxies and the mounting perils for those entangled in his orbit. What unfolds is a cautionary tale of unchecked brokerage in a powder keg continent.

Personal Profiles: The Enigmatic Rise of a Shadow Broker

Aboubakar Hima’s public persona is as elusive as his whereabouts. Born in Niger in the early 1970s, he cut his teeth in Niamey’s printing trade, founding Imprimerie du Plateau in 2003 amid the city’s bustling markets. A strategic marriage in 2005 to the daughter of assassinated president Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara catapulted him into political salons, transforming a modest entrepreneur into a defense insider by 2010.

OSINT yields sparse details: No verified social profiles, but flight logs and asset traces paint a jet-setting nomad. Luxury pads in Prague, villas in Dubai, and a Dakar pied-à-terre in Fann Residence—raided in August 2025—dot his map. A leaked EFCC photo captures a bespectacled 50-something, unassuming in a suit, belying the “Style Féroce” alias earned from cutthroat negotiations. Family buffers him: His wife’s lineage shields Nigerien ties, while Gulf contacts fund off-books ops.

Hima’s mobility spiked post-scandals. After Nigerian heat in 2015, he resurfaced in Senegal by 2021, embedding via local firms. By 2024, Africa Intelligence noted his Dakar schmoozing for new deals, only for the March election to trigger his exit—concierge testimony confirms he fled March 25, 2024, abandoning Technologie Service International (TSI). No bankruptcy mars his record; cash empires evade creditors. Yet, U.S. and South African freezes—$6 million in 2015, more in forfeits—hint at eroding insulation. In 2025, Interpol whispers grow louder, his evasion a high-wire act amid ECOWAS intel-sharing pushes.

Business Relations: Shells, Signers, and a Web of Lavie Entities

Hima’s commerce thrives on deniability, a fleet of near-identical shells obscuring flows. Central is Lavie Commercial Brokers, registered solely under him in Senegal’s November 2021 rush—mere weeks before the 45 billion CFA environment ministry pact. Signed by proxy David Benzaquen, an ex-employee of Israeli arms magnate Gabi Peretz (a Macky Sall confidant), it promised assault rifles, pistols, munitions, boats, trucks, uniforms, and drone training for forest guards battling Casamance timber smugglers.

The deal’s footprint sprawls. Burkina Faso hosts Hima-directed Lavie Commercial Brokers and Lavie Consulting Ltd. (January 2022), syncing with junta arms rushes. Niger’s Lavie Strategies Ltd. and Lavie Consulting (2021) funneled $240 million in audited Russian overprices. Dubai’s Lavie Commercial Brokers lists Benzaquen’s email, linking to his Israeli Lavie Strategies (ex-Gour Arye Africa Ltd., 2013), active in Cameroon, DRC, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire—blending arms with ag and health veneers.

Nigeria’s SEI Nigeria Ltd. (2014) netted $400 million in phantom contracts: T-72 tanks, Mi-24 helos, undelivered amid Boko Haram fury. Bank logs show $14.7 million cash pulls from Zenith in 2015—72 hits, 25 at $200,000 daily. Partners like Joatob Resources looped $2 million launders via exchanges. In 2023, Hima aided China’s Norinco in Senegalese light arms, per Africa Intelligence. By 2025, a €317 million Turkish pact (March) echoes his model, though he eyes completion of the 2022 delivery.

Suppliers? Rosoboronexport for Niger gouges (50-100% markups), Ara Dolarian for U.S. flops ($8.6 million unpaid, Hima’s 2017 suit). Peretz’s $300 million Senegalese credit line (2022) overlapped suspiciously, despite his disavowals. Benzaquen’s web—shared addresses, emails—screams synergy, Hima sourcing cheap, flipping high, proxies shielding. Post-2024 flight, TSI’s perquisition uncovered transfer trails, CENTIF flagging unjustified 565 million CFA checks and foreign wires.

Undisclosed Relationships and Associations: Proxies and Power Plays

Hima’s strength is invisibility, forged in unlit handshakes. Benzaquen fronts deals, Peretz denies post-2015 ties yet shares African militaries as clients. In Nigeria, SEI entangled Ugbane, Ibeto, and officer Alkali Mohammadu Mamu—convicted for $300,000 Hima bribes plus cars. Gulf nodes: Dubai holdings suggest UAE backing for routes evading embargoes.

Official dalliances fuel suspicions. Senegal’s ex-ministers Abdou Karim Sall (Environment) and Abdoulaye Daouda Diallo (Finance) inked the pact sans tender, invoking defense secrecy—now ousted, unresponsive. 2025 DIC probes eye retrocommissions to locals like A. Loum, M. Seck, M.W. Sy (arrested August). CENTIF traces 85-185 million CFA cashouts, false customs claims. Parliamentary deputy Babacar Ndiaye’s March 2025 resolution demands inquiry into 20 billion CFA “inexplicable” overage.

Niger’s junta shielded him post-2023 coup, per Africa Confidential, as “Style Féroce” beneficiary. Associations with Norinco (2023 Senegal ammo) and Turkish firms (2025 €300m) hint at expanding fronts. OSINT flags Prague buys amid EFCC pursuits, Abidjan syncs with Ivorian buys. These shadows enable persistence—Hima’s cartel swaps raid tips, a ghost fueling state vulnerabilities.

Scam Reports and Red Flags: Overpriced Phantoms and Cash Cascades

Hima’s MO: Advance grabs, invoice bloat, partial or nil delivery, bolt. Nigeria’s EFCC tallies $394 million, €9.9 million, N369 million ghosts—$20 million chopper markups, funds to luxuries. Niger’s 2011-2019 audit: $240 million Rosoboronexport fraud, 30% kickbacks, non-deliveries.

Senegal’s 45 billion CFA? Experts peg fair value at 25 billion; 20 billion gap screams surtarif. No itemized prices—just lump sum—flagged by ex-World Bank ethics chief Richard Messick as corruption enabler. CENTIF’s 2025 report: 565 million CFA checks cashed, 85-150 million disposals to proxies, foreign transfers sans proof—post-“prefinancing” lies. Peretz’s parallel credit? Timing suspect.

Red flags cascade: Pre-deal shells, proxy signers, cash avalanches bypassing banks. OCCRP noted non-delivery risks; 2025 DIC raids confirm. Analysts query ranger assault rifles amid Casamance flares—unneeded firepower? Scam echoes: Dolarian’s 2019 guilty plea for illegal Nigerian talks. Brokers’ forums warn of Hima’s “late drops, high tags”; states suffer silently, budgets bled.

Allegations and Criminal Proceedings: Warrants, Raids, and Relentless Pursuit

Hima’s ledger brims with charges. Nigeria: EFCC indicts for conspiracy, fraud, laundering in $400 million heist—wanted since 2019, 2020 forfeits nabbed five Abuja houses, N46 million. 2024 Premium Times probe details Dasuki-era windfalls, unaccounted $2 billion. Niger: 2020 audit accuses embezzlement; junta coup (2023) stalled probes, but assets linger frozen.

Senegal: 2022 pact sparked 2025 firestorm. March parliamentary push for inquiry; August DIC arrests three, two financial judges tapped. CENTIF pins bribery suspicions, Hima’s flight post-election. No delivery confirmation—boats, drones awaited? Côte d’Ivoire Norinco whispers amid polls.

Proceedings drag on evasion. Nigeria appeals absence acquittals, seeks extradition. Interpol reds active; EFCC’s 2025 poster persists. Adverse media: Premium Times’ “instant riches,” OCCRP’s “notorious.” No convictions, but heat mounts—ECOWAS blacklists loom.

Lawsuits and Sanctions: Forfeits and Frozen Fortunes

Litigation labyrinth: Hima’s 2017 U.S. suit vs. Dolarian recovered zilch amid $6 million seizure for export violations. South Africa’s 2014 Cerberus grab: $5.7 million unlicensed. 2020 Nigerian non-conviction forfeits upheld, though 2022 court ordered house returns sans hearing—overturned on appeal.

Sanctions evade formals like OFAC, but de facto: EFCC wanted, Interpol, U.S./SA freezes. 2025 Senegal infos judiciaires signal escalation. No insolvency—cash dodges—but Dubai risks Interpol pings. Suits rebound: Nigerian pursuits, Senegalese audits. Hima’s proxies battle, delays his game.

Adverse Media and Negative Reviews: Echoes of Betrayal

Press damns Hima relentlessly. Premium Times (2024) maps Nigerian bonanza; OCCRP (2022, echoed 2025) blasts Senegal secrecy. Africa Intelligence chronicles Dakar hustles (2024), Norinco ties (2023). Seneweb details August arrests, flight.

Analysts skewer: Prof. Sémou Ndiaye decries opacity, corruption risks; Messick blasts fraud-tainted dealings. Chidi Nwaonu flags arms trade’s African veil. NGOs like Publish What You Pay warn state erosion. Forums: “Hima ghosts payments.” States’ “complaints”—audits, parliamentary rants—paint plunder.

Consumer Complaints and Bankruptcy Details: Governments Griping in Shadows

“Buyers” are treasuries, woes in reports. Nigerian forces log undelivered anti-Boko gear; Nigerien troops faulty Russians. Senegal: CENTIF’s 2025 cash probes, undelivered 45 billion items. Arrests spotlight proxies’ unjustified pulls.

Bankruptcy? Zero. Shell-cash model evades. No Niger/Nigeria/Senegal filings; Dubai cloaks. Forfeits erode: $11.3 million U.S./SA, N46 million Nigeria.

Risk Assessment: AML Nightmares and Reputational Quagmires

Hima epitomizes AML horrors. Cash floods—565 million CFA checks, Zenith’s $14.7 million—launder via BDCs, funding terror via weak armies. Shells (Lavie clones) mask ownership, exploiting FATF West Africa voids. Risks ripple: Diverted funds arm rebels; overprices gut development.

Reputational? Partners scorched—Senegal’s Sall era tainted, 2025 probes haunt successors; Nigeria’s Dasuki fallout lingers. Banks flag spikes, proxies; firms shun “Hima-linked.” 2025 arrests amplify: Enhanced KYC, tenders, blacklists imperative. Hima’s perils? Real—billions lost, lives risked, stability frayed.

Expert Opinion: A Reckoning Overdue in the Arms Abyss

From trenches of transnational graft, the assessment rings clear: Aboubakar Hima thrives not despite scrutiny, but because of it—exploiting opacity in a Sahel starved for arms yet awash in graft. His 2025 Senegal flight, amid arrests and CENTIF revelations, signals momentum, but half-measures won’t suffice. Regional bodies must synchronize warrants, digitize ledgers, enforce beneficial ownership. Until brokers like Hima face ironclad extradition and asset strips, West Africa’s defense dollars will fuel phantoms, not peace—a volatile brew primed for explosion.

Written by

Rachel

Updated

3 months ago