Boko Haram

Introduction

Boko Haram is an extremist Nigerian Islamist militant sect that was formed in Maiduguri in 2002 by Ustaz Mohammed Yusuf. The sect, whose name translates to 'Western education is a sacrilege/sin', seeks the imposition of a strict Sharia Islamic law throughout Nigeria and believes that the country should relinquish Western-style education. The sect became militarily active around 2003 and has since carried out a series of attacks against the Nigerian government, Christian targets, including targeted killings of worshipers and bombings of churches, and moderate Islamist groups. Since 2008, the Nigerian government has cracked down on Boko Haram activity; this culminated in a five-day uprising in July 2009, which left hundreds of people, including Mohammed Yusuf, dead. However, despite heightened security efforts, the group has managed to continue with its attacks. Since its inception, Boko Haram's primary areas of focus have been in the northern states of Yobe, Kano, Bauchi, Borno and Kaduna, although recent trends suggest the sect's activities are moving southwards, with attacks being recorded in Plateau state and Abuja.

Ideology and objective

Boko Haram is loosely modelled on the Taleban movement in Afghanistan; one of the group's primary bases in Kanama in Yobe state was named 'Afghanistan' before its destruction. The group has also issued statements expressing solidarity with al-Qaeda and has threatened the United States. Although a direct connection between Boko Haram and the Taleban or al-Qaeda is not discernable, like its extremist counterparts, Boko Haram's ideology is based on hostility towards democracy and Western 'anti-Islamist' education. Nigeria's constitution guarantees freedom of religion and the country has a population that is split roughly in half between a Muslim north and Christian south. Boko Haram has repeatedly stated that it seeks the imposition of a strict Sharia law system throughout Nigeria; currently nine northern states adhere to Sharia law, with an additional three only marginally implementing it. According to various statements, Boko Haram also seeks the abolishment of Western-style education, which it states is contrary to the teachings of Islam.

Structure and politics

Not much is known about the organisational structure of Boko Haram. The group's founder and former leader, Mohammed Yusuf, was thought to have been highly educated and wealthy. Although Mohammed Yusuf was killed by security forces in 2009, his deputy, Abubakar Shebu, who was initially thought to also have been killed, appeared on a video in 2010 and claimed leadership of the group. Shebu furthermore threatened fresh attacks against the Western-influenced Nigerian government.

Boko Haram members generally do not mix with other Islamist groups in Nigeria, even praying in separate mosques in the larger northern cities of Maiduguri, Kano and Sokoto. A lack of education and a high unemployment rate in northern Nigeria has given the group a seemingly bottomless reservoir from which to draw disgruntled youth recruits and Nigeria's State Security Service estimates that Boko Haram has over 540,000 members. The group's membership is also thought to be bolstered by extremist elements from Chad, Niger and Cameroon who cross over the notoriously porous northern border regions into Nigeria.

Operational areas and tactics

During the leadership of Mohammed Yusuf, Boko Haram carried out a number of low-level attacks against security installations and Christian churches in northern Nigeria. However, the arrest of some of its members by security forces in July 2009 spurred the group into a general uprising in the north of the country. Clashes and targeted killings started in Bauchi, but soon spread to Maiduguri and smaller cities across northern Nigeria. Maiduguri was worst affected with over 700 deaths recorded. Following five days of violence, security forces stormed and destroyed Boko Haram's primary mosque in Maiduguri and captured Mohammed Yusuf. He was subsequently shot and killed under suspicious circumstances by security forces. Following Mohammed Yusuf's death and a significant military deployment in Maiduguri and several other areas across northern Nigeria, Boko Haram activity all but ceased in the north. However, in mid-2010 Boko Haram activity resumed in the region, with the sect claiming responsibility for a spate of targeted killings in Maiduguri. Several police officers, Christians and moderate Muslims were killed in drive-by motorcycle shootings. Furthermore, in September 2010, Boko Haram staged an attack on a federal prison in Bauchi, freeing approximately 700 prisoners, of which an estimated 150 were sect members. The attacks came just months after the sect's former deputy, Shebu, claimed leadership of Boko Haram and threatened renewed attacks.

With the majority of its efforts concentrated in northern Nigeria, Boko Haram sharply deviated from previous tactics by claiming responsibility for a series of bombings in Jos, capital of the central Plateau state, on 24 December 2010, which left at least 80 people dead; the attacks were claimed by a group called Jama'atu ahlus sunnah lid da'awati wal jihad, a name Boko Haram has in the past stated it wanted to be known by. The attacks coincided with Boko Haram-led attacks on Christian churches in Maiduguri on the same day. While the Christmas 2010 attacks exemplified the groups tactical evolution, Boko Haram's increasing operational capacity would be fully delineated in the latter half of 2011, when the group executed a series of attacks in the capital, Abuja. In the first incident, militants aligned of the Islamist extremist movement detonated an explosive device outside Abuja's police headquarters (Louis Edet House) on 16 June 2011, killing at least eight people and wounding dozens more. Three months later, the group claimed responsibility for the 26 August 2011 car bomb attack that targeted the UN offices in the city's Garki business district; at least 16 people were killed and scores others wounded in the bombing. The attacks illustrate Boko Haram's intent and operational capacity to execute attacks against a wide range of targets in Nigeria, including even the most well-guarded facilities, such as those based in Abuja.

Future outlook

Despite significant security crackdowns, Boko Haram has managed to re-emerge as a severe threat. Accordingly, as opposed to weakening the organisation, Mohammed Yusuf's death seemingly inaugurated a new age of Boko Haram activity. Shebu, as the sect's new leader, has added a new level of sophistication to the group, which had up until the death of Mohammed Yusuf mainly been concentrated on small-scale bombings, shootings and kidnappings. Nigeria is a highly fractured society which is split along ethnic, religious and socio-economic lines. As Boko Haram draws the majority of its support from dissatisfied youths, unless the Nigerian government addresses some of its pressing socio-economic needs, the group will undoubtedly continue to pose a threat and further attacks against government installations, Christian targets and moderate Muslims will in all likelihood continue. While civilian, government and security installations in the northern states of Yobe, Kano, Bauchi, Borno and Kaduna, will continue to be assessed as the most likely targets, Boko Haram is believed to currently possess both the operational and logistical capacity to execute attacks throughout Nigeria, with major cities such as Abuja and Lagos also considered to be at an elevated threat.