Militancy and the Arc of Instability by Cooke Jennifer G.;Sanderson Thomas M.; & Thomas M. Sanderson

Author:Cooke, Jennifer G.;Sanderson, Thomas M.; & Thomas M. Sanderson
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781442279698
Publisher: Center for Strategic & International Studies

A Deadly Group Emerges in Nigeria: The Origins and Evolution of Boko Haram50

We thought they were like hippies at first. Our poor uneducated boys who had nothing better to do. Nobody took them seriously. Then we started seeing university graduates tearing up their certificates, engineering degrees, even medical school. And we thought, we need to start paying more attention.—Nigerian journalist in Abuja

Established in 2002, Boko Haram's initial incarnation was as a narrow, insulated sect operating in the remote northeast corner of Nigeria in the Borno State capital of Maiduguri. Its founding leader Muhammed Yussuf called for a rejection of the corrupting influence of Western culture and state authority, and of traditional religious authorities seen as degenerate collaborators in an immoral government system.51 The group drew its adherents largely from disaffected university students and unemployed youth, many of them members of the Kanuri ethnic group, which has significant populations in Niger, Chad, and North East Nigeria, the regions formerly encompassed by the ancient Islamic kingdom of Kanem-Bornu.

The group expanded its presence in Maiduguri in 2002, militarizing with support from local government authorities. Ali Modu Sheriff, then governor of Borno State, is widely suspected of arming and financing Yussuf’s followers in the run-up to the 2003 and 2007 gubernatorial elections as a protection and intimidation force to support his candidacy. Yussuf and Sheriff fell out after the 2007 elections. Sherrif reportedly felt threatened by Yussuf’s expanding influence and reneged on a preelection promise to make him Chief Imam of Maiduguri.52 The ex-governor has denied the allegations, but they have gained new traction with recent accusations by the current Borno State Attorney General, who has called for his arrest.53

After the fallout, Borno State authorities sought to criminalize Boko Haram members by imposing motorbike helmet laws, widely seen as targeting the group, since many of its young members were okada drivers and complained that the helmets would not fit over their turbans.54 Boko Haram members began to escalate sporadic, low-level attacks—Molotov cocktails thrown from moving motorbikes—against police stations and barracks, and local nightclubs. In July 2009, Nigerian police forces launched a crackdown against the group, killing some 800 members and capturing Yussuf, who was fatally shot while in police custody.

Following Yussuf’s death, much of Boko Haram’s leadership fled Nigeria across its northern frontiers. Yussuf’s top deputy, Abubakar Shekau, who was wounded in the July massacre, reportedly traveled to northern Mali and trained with MUJAO in the Gao region. Other members moved through Chad and Niger to train and fight alongside jihadist elements in Somalia, Algeria, and Afghanistan. They began to return to Nigeria in 2010 and 2011, and Boko Haram reemerged as a far deadlier and sophisticated enterprise. Under new leadership, the group expanded its repertoire of tactics and range of targets, with more and more attacks intended to inflict maximal civilian casualties.

Suicide car bomb attacks on police and UN headquarters in Abuja in June and August 2011, respectively, propelled Boko Haram to international notoriety.55 As Nigerian forces hardened targets in Abuja, Boko Haram

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