HOW BOKOHARAM CAME INTO EXISTENCE

Boko Haram, Islamic sectarian movement, founded in 2002 by Mohammed Yusuf in northeastern Nigeria, that since 2009 has carried out assassinations and large-scale acts of violence in that country. The group’s initial proclaimed intent was to uproot the corruption and injustice in Nigeria, which it blamed on Western influences, and to impose Sharīʿah, or Islamic law. Later the group vowed to avenge the deaths of Yusuf and other group members, who were killed by security forces in 2009. In 2015 the group pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and took the name Islamic State (or State’s) West African Province (ISWAP; also known as Islamic State in West Africa, or ISWA). The next year the group split, with one faction retaining that name and the other reverting back to the original appellation.

Origins:

Yusuf established the group in Maiduguri, the capital of the northeastern state of Borno, Nigeria. Although the original name of the group is Jamāʿat Ahl al-Sunnah li-l-Daʿawah wa al-Jihād (often translated as “Association of the People of the Sunnah for Preaching and Jihad” or “People Committed to the Prophet’s Teaching for Propagation and Jihad”), the name Boko Haram, which means “Westernization is sacrilege,” was given to the group by neighbours based on how they viewed its lifestyle and teachings. This, in turn, was popularly interpreted as “Western education is a sin” or “Western education is forbidden.” Ideologically, Boko Haram is against Westernization, which it views as negatively impacting Islamic values. The group blames Western influences for Nigeria’s culture of corruption, which has contributed to a wide gap between the few rich and the many poor.

Early activity:

Boko Haram gained widespread exposure in July 2009 when, after an incident in which group members were allegedly subjected to the excessive use of force by police and then were unable to get official investigation into the matter, the group launched attacks on police posts and other government installations, killing scores of police officers. When the police could not bring the situation under control, the army was brought in. The ensuing Joint Military Task Force operation left more than 700 Boko Haram members dead and destroyed the mosque that the group used as its headquarters. Yusuf and other leaders were arrested by the military and handed over to the police. A few days later the bullet-riddled corpses of Yusuf and his colleagues—including that of his father-in-law, Baba Fugu Mohammed, who had willingly handed himself over to the police for questioning—were displayed in public; the extrajudicial killings by the police infuriated the group as well as others.

After that incident, Boko Haram appeared to be disbanded, or at least inactive, until the next year, when a video was made public in which Yusuf’s deputy, Abubakar Shekau, declared that he was the group’s new leader and vowed to avenge the deaths of Yusuf and the others.

Revival and onslaught of attacks:

In the summer of 2010, the group began to assassinate individuals, typically police officers, and also attacked larger targets. One early operation that garnered widespread attention occurred in September 2010, when the group attacked a prison in the city of Bauchi, in Bauchi state, and released more than 700 inmates, including some 100 Boko Haram members. Later that year, on Christmas Eve, the group attacked two Christian churches in Maiduguri and detonated explosives in Christian neighbourhoods in Jos, in Plateau state, the latter attack killing more than 30 people.

Boko Haram’s attacks increased in frequency and magnitude, killing and injuring many. The attacks occurred primarily in Nigeria’s northeast, north-central, and central states and typically focused on police, military, and government targets, as well as Christian churches and schools and Muslim individuals who were critical of the group. On August 26, 2011, the group struck its first high-profile international target within Nigeria when a suicide bomber crashed a car into the United Nations building in Abuja and detonated an explosive, which killed at least 23 people and injured more than 100 others. One of Boko Haram’s deadliest attacks occurred on January 20, 2012, when more than 185 people lost their lives after group members launched coordinated attacks in the city of Kano, in Kano state, targeting police stations and government offices.

After its 2010 resurrection, Boko Haram’s membership and organizational structure were not clear. The group reportedly had begun splintering into multiple factions sometime after Yusuf’s death, with the main faction being led by Shekau. Security reports indicated that Boko Haram had links with other terrorist networks such as al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghrib (AQIM) and al-Shabaab in Somalia. In February 2013 some Boko Haram members reportedly began operating in neighbouring Cameroon.