Nigeria's intelligence agency says some members of the radical Islamist sect Boko Haram are being funded by local politicians.

The State Security Service (SSS) said Monday that its arrest of an alleged Boko Haram spokesman confirmed its view that, in the agency's words, “some of the Boko Haram extremists have political patronage and sponsorship.”

The SSS named the alleged spokesman as Ali Sandi Umar Konduga. It says he was recruited by a politician in Nigeria's Borno state to send out threatening messages, using an alias, Usman al-Zawahiri.

Nigerian authorities have blamed Boko Haram for dozens of shootings and bombings, many of them deadly. Most of the attacks have taken place in Borno state but the group has also claimed responsibility for attacks in the capital, Abuja, including the bombing of the local U.N. headquarters in August, which killed 23 people.

The group's size, origins and structure are not clear but members have said they want to establish an Islamic state in northern Nigeria, ruled by Sharia law.