The Boko Haram insurgency began in July 2009, when the militant Islamist and jihadist rebel group Boko Haram started an armed rebellion against the government of Nigeria. Boko Haram targets both Muslims and Christians. Attacks are often directed at individuals perceived as supporting the Nigerian government or Islamic State after the split between them, including civil servants, local defense groups, Muslim leaders who oppose the group and other rebels like al-Qaeda and Islamic State. Most attacks are not based on the religion of the victims.
Boko Haram's initial uprising failed, and its leader Mohammed Yusuf was killed by the Nigerian government. He began the group in 2002 with a view of opposing western education with his followers. The movement consequently fractured into autonomous groups and started an insurgency, though rebel commander Abubakar Shekau managed to achieve a kind of primacy among the insurgents. Though challenged by internal rivals, such as Abu Usmatul al-Ansari's Salafist conservative faction and the Ansaru faction, Shekau became the insurgency's de facto leader and mostly kept the different Boko Haram factions from fighting each other, instead focusing on overthrowing the Nigerian government. Supported by other jihadist organizations including al-Qaeda and al-Shabaab, Shekau's tactics were marked by extreme brutality and explicit targeting of civilians.
After years of fighting, the insurgents became increasingly aggressive and began to seize large areas in northeastern Nigeria. The violence escalated dramatically in 2014 with 10,849 deaths, while Boko Haram drastically expanded its territories. At the same time, the insurgency spread to neighboring Cameroon, Chad, Mali, and Niger, thus becoming a major regional conflict in sub-Saharan Africa. Meanwhile, Shekau attempted to improve his international standing among jihadists by tacitly aligning with the Islamic State in March 2015, with Boko Haram becoming the "Islamic State's West Africa Province" (ISWAP).
The insurgents were driven back during the 2015 West African offensive by a Nigeria-led coalition of African and Western countries, forcing the Islamists to retreat into Sambisa Forest and bases at Lake Chad. Discontent about various issues consequently grew among Boko Haram. Dissidents among the movement allied themselves with ISWAP's central command and challenged Shekau's leadership, resulting in a violent split of the insurgents. Since then, Shekau and his group are generally referred to as "Boko Haram", whereas the dissidents continued to operate as ISWAP under Abu Musab al-Barnawi. The two factions consequently fought against each other while waging insurgencies against the local governments. After a period of reversals, Boko Haram and ISWAP launched offensives in 2018 and 2019, again growing in strength.
When Boko Haram's insurgency was at its peak in the mid-2010s, it was the world's deadliest terrorist organization in terms of the number of people it killed. In a bid to ensure dialog between the government and the deadly sect, the Jonathan administration set up a committee to grant amnesty to Boko Haram. Some details of the amnesty include the granting of pardons to Boko Haram fighters and also listening to different ethnic groups under the sect in a bid to end violence. This amnesty was rejected by the sect in an audio broadcast that was sent by its leader on the grounds that they are fighting to create an Islamic state in Nigeria's predominantly Muslim north and that it is the government that is committing atrocities against Muslims.
In May 2021, ISWAP attacked and overran Boko Haram militants in the Sambisa Forest and Shekau was killed during the fighting, reportedly using a suicide vest. In August, al-Barnawi was killed. After Shekau's death masses of Boko Haram militants surrendered while others defected to ISWAP. According to the Nigerian Defence Forces, by July 2023 over 100,000 rebels and their family members surrendered. A commander of the Joint Task Force expressed optimism that the Boko Haram crisis would end very soon, while advising the troops not to rest or give the terrorists a chance to recuperate, reorganise and start carrying out attacks, saying, "We are almost there, so let's maintain the momentum."
Background
Nigerian statehood
Britain amalgamated both the northern and southern protectorates in 1914, about a decade after the defeat of the Sokoto Caliphate and other Islamic states by the British which were to constitute much of northern Nigeria. Sir Frederick Lugard assumed office as governor of both protectorates in 1912. The aftermath of the First World War saw Germany lose its colonies—one of which was Cameroon—to French, Belgian and British mandates. Cameroon was divided in French and British parts, the latter of which was further subdivided into southern and northern parts. Following a plebiscite in 1961, the Southern Cameroons elected to rejoin French Cameroon, while the Northern Cameroons opted to join Nigeria, a move which added to Nigeria's already large Muslim population. The territory made up much of what is now northeastern Nigeria.
Early religious conflict
Religious conflict in Nigeria dates as far back as 1953, and in the case of the town of Tafawa Balewa, to 1948. The Igbo massacre of 1966 in the north that followed the 1966 counter-coup had as a dual cause the Igbo officers' coup and pre-existing (sectarian) tensions between the Igbos and the local Muslims. This was a major factor in the Biafran secession and the resulting Nigerian Civil War.
Maitatsine
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, there was a major Islamic uprising led by Maitatsine (Mohammed Marwa) and his followers, Yan Tatsine that led to several thousand deaths. After Maitatsine's death in 1980, the movement continued for some five years more.
In the 1980s the erstwhile military ruler of Nigeria, General Ibrahim Babangida enrolled Nigeria in the Organisation of the Islamic Conference. This was a move which aggravated religious tensions in the country, particularly among the Christian community. In response, some in the Muslim community pointed out that certain other African member states have smaller proportions of Muslims, as well as Nigeria's diplomatic relations with the Holy See.
Establishment of sharia
Since the return of democracy to Nigeria in 1999, sharia has been instituted as a main body of civil and criminal law in 9 Muslim-majority and in some parts of 3 Muslim-plurality states, when Zamfara State Governor Ahmad Rufai Sani began the push for the institution of sharia at the state level of government. This was followed by controversy as to the would-be legal status of non-Muslims in the sharia system. A spate of Muslim-Christian riots soon emerged.
In the primarily Islamic northern states of Nigeria, a variety of Muslim groups and populations exist, who favour the nationwide introduction of sharia. The demands of these populations have been at least partially upheld by the Nigerian federal government in 12 states, first in Zamfara State in 1999. The implementation has been widely attributed as being caused by the insistence of Sani.
The 2002 death sentences of Amina Lawal and Safiya Hussaini attracted international attention to what many saw as the harsh regime of these laws. These sentences were later overturned; the first execution was carried out in 2002.
Blasphemy and apostasy
Twelve out of Nigeria's 36 states have Sunni Islam as the dominant religion. In 1999, those states chose to have sharia courts as well as customary courts. A sharia court may treat blasphemy as deserving of several punishments up to and including execution. In many predominantly Muslim states, conversion from Islam to another religion is illegal and often a capital offence.
Demographic balance
According to a Nigerian study on demographics and religion, Muslims make up 50.5% of the population. Muslims mainly live in the north of the country; the majority of Nigerian Muslims are Sunnis. Christians are the second-largest religious group and make up 48.2% of the population. They predominate in the central and southern parts of the country. For reasons of avoiding political controversy, questions of religion were forgone in the 2006 Nigerian census.
History
Beginnings and 2009 uprising
Mohammed Yusuf began Boko Haram in 2002 with a view of opposing western education with his followers. Boko Haram conducted its operations more or less peacefully during the first seven years of its existence. That changed in 2009 when the Nigerian government launched an investigation into the group's activities following reports that its members were arming themselves. Prior to that the government reportedly repeatedly ignored warnings about the increasingly militant character of the organisation, including that of a military officer.
Yusuf was arrested at his parent inlaws' house by the Nigerian military and subsequently handed over to the Nigerian police. When the government came into action, several members of the group were arrested in Bauchi, sparking deadly clashes with Nigerian security forces in Bauchi, Maiduguri, Potiskum, and Wudil, which led to the deaths of an estimated 700 people. Boko Haram fighters reportedly "used fuel-laden motorcycles" and "bows with poison arrows" to attack a police station. Yusuf was killed while in police custody. He was survived by four wives and 12 children, one of whom was Abu Musab al-Barnawi. After Yusuf's killing, Abubakar Shekau became the leader and held this position in January 2015.
The movement consequently fractured into autonomous groups and started an insurgency, though rebel commander Abubakar Shekau managed to achieve a kind of primacy among the insurgents. Though challenged by internal rivals, such as Abu Usmatul al-Ansari's Salafist conservative faction and the Ansaru faction, Shekau became the insurgency's de facto leader and mostly kept the different Boko Haram factions from fighting each other, instead focusing on overthrowing the Nigerian government. Supported by other jihadist organizations including al-Qaeda and al-Shabaab, Shekau's tactics were marked by extreme brutality and explicit targeting of civilians.
2010 resurgence
Nearly six months after the death of Yusuf, the group carried out its first terrorist attack in Borno in January 2010, killing four people. During the following few years, the violence escalated in terms of both frequency and intensity. On 7 September a prison break in Bauchi freed more than 700 Boko Haram militants, replenishing their force. On 24 December Boko Haram used four bombs to kill 32 people in Jos, Plateau State. On the same day, they killed six people in attacks against churches in Maiduguri.
2011
On 29 May 2011, a few hours after Goodluck Jonathan was sworn in as president, several bombings purportedly by Boko Haram killed 15 and injured 55. On 15 June the federal government began a military effort to counter the growing threat of Boko Haram's insurgency. With 21 Armoured Brigade of the Nigerian Army as its nucleus, Joint Task Force Operation Restore Order marked the start of the army's lengthy counter-insurgency campaign against Boko Haram. Results were mixed, and the army was criticised for being too kinetic.
On 16 June, Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the Abuja police headquarters bombing, the first known suicide attack in Nigeria. On 26 August the United Nations building in Abuja was bombed, signifying the first time that Boko Haram attacked an international organisation. On 4 November, Boko Haram carried out attacks in Damaturu, Yobe, and in Maiduguri, killing over a hundred people, and on 22 and 23 December clashing with security forces, resulting in at least 68 deaths. On 25 December, Boko Haram attacked several churches with bombings and shootings.
2012
In January 2012, Boko Haram attacked Mubi, Yola and Gombi – all in Adamawa State – in addition to Maiduguri and Kano. During the same month, Shekau appeared in a video posted on YouTube. According to Reuters, Shekau took control of the group after Yusuf's death in 2009. Authorities had previously believed that Shekau died during the 2009 uprising.
By early 2012, the group was responsible for over 900 deaths. On 8 March, a small Special Boat Service team and the Nigerian Army attempted to rescue two hostages, Briton Chris McManus and Italian Franco Lamolinara, being held in Sokoto by members of Boko Haram. Both hostages were killed by their captors before or during the rescue attempt. All the hostage takers were reportedly killed.
On 8 April, at least 38 people were killed by a suicide car bomber in Kaduna. On 24 June, about 40 inmates escaped during a prison break in Damaturu. On 17 June, at least 12 people were killed by three bombings of churches in Kaduna State. On 7 August, 19 people were killed in a mass shooting in Kogi State. On 1–2 November, at least 25 men were killed at the Federal Polytechnic, Mubi. On 25 December, 12 people were killed in Potiskum and Maiduguri. On 28 December, 15 people were killed in a village in northeastern Nigeria.
2013
On 8 February 2013 gunmen killed at least nine polio vaccinators in Kano. On 18 March, a suicide car bomber rammed a bus in Kano, killing over 20 people. On 16 and 17 April, dozens of civilians were killed during a battle in Baga between Boko Haram and the Nigerian Army.
In May 2013, government forces launched an offensive in the Borno region in an attempt to dislodge Boko Haram fighters after a state of emergency was called. The state of emergency applied to the states of Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa. The offensive had initial success, but the Boko Haram rebels were able to regain their strength. Several authors have cited the frailty of the Nigerian security system and corruption in the management of the military as some of the factors that allowed Boko Haram to regain their strength during this period.
On 6 July, Boko Haram massacred 42 students in Yobe, bringing the school year to an early end. On 5 August, Boko Haram launched dual attacks on Bama and Malam Fatori, leaving 35 dead. On 11 August, Boko Haram killed 44 people in a mass shooting at a mosque in Konduga, Borno. On 6 October, the Nigerian Army won a battle against Boko Haram in Damboa, Borno. On 2 November in Borno, gunmen attacked a convoy returning from a wedding, killing over 30 people.
2014
Chibok kidnapping and ambush
On 15 April 2014, terrorists abducted about 276 teenage female pupils from a secondary school in Chibok, Borno. The abduction was widely attributed to Boko Haram. It was reported that the group had taken the girls to neighbouring Cameroon and Chad where they were to be sold into marriages at a price below a dollar each. The abduction of another eight girls was reported later. These kidnappings raised public protests, with some protesters holding placards bearing the Twitter tag #BringBackOurGirls, which had caught international attention.
The Guardian reported that the British Royal Air Force (RAF)conducted Operation Turus in response to the Chibok kidnapping. A source involved with the operation told The Observer "The girls were located in the first few weeks of the RAF mission", and "We [RAF] offered to rescue them, but the Nigerian government declined", this was because it viewed any action to be taken as a "national issue", and for it to be resolved by Nigerian intelligence and security services, the source added that the girls were then tracked by the aircraft as they were dispersed into progressively smaller groups over the following months. Several countries pledged support to the Nigerian government and to help their military with intelligence gathering on the whereabouts of the girls and the operational camps of Boko Haram. On 13–14 May, Boko Haram ambushed Nigerian soldiers who were searching for the kidnapped girls.
Jos bombings
On 20 May, two bombs in Jos, Plateau State, were detonated, killing at least 118 people and injuring more than 56 others. The bombs exploded 30 minutes apart, one at a local marketplace at approximately 3:00 and the second in a parking lot next to a hospital at approximately 3:30, where rescuers responding to the first accident were killed. Though no group or individual claimed responsibility, the attacks were attributed to Boko Haram.