Concise account of a growing Islamist threat, which is active across West Africa

The primary objective of this book is to understand the nature of the Boko Haram insurgency in northeast Nigeria. Boko Haram’s goal of an Islamic Caliphate, starting in the Borno State in the North East that will eventually cover the areas of the former Kanem-Borno Empire, is a rejection of the modern state system forced on it by the West. The central theme of this volume examines the relationship between the failure of the state-building project in Nigeria and the outbreak and nature of insurgency. At the heart of the Boko Haram phenomenon is a country racked with cleavages, making it hard for Nigeria to cohere as a modern state. Part I introduces this theme and places the Boko Haram insurgency in a historical context. There are, however, multiple cleavages in Nigeria ̶ ethnic, regional, cultural, and religious ̶ and Part II examines the different state-society dynamics fuelling the conflict. Political grievances are common to every society; however, what gives Boko Haram the space to express such grievances through violence? Importantly, this volume demonstrates that the insurgency is, in fact, a reflection of the hollowness within Nigeria’s overall security. Part III looks at the responses to Boko Haram by Nigeria, neighbouring states, and external actors. For Western actors, Boko Haram is seen as part of the "global war on terror" and the fact that it has pledged allegiance to ISIS encourages this framing. However, as the chapters here discuss, this is an over-simplification of Boko Haram and the West needs to address the multiple dimension of Boko Haram. This book will be of much interest to students of terrorism and political violence, insurgencies, African politics, war and conflict studies, and IR in general.

This book focuses on the Boko Haram insurgence in Nigeria, and provides information on the origin and growth of the sect, antecedent and historical factors behind the insurgence, assessing a variety of socio-political drivers. The structure, organization and ideology of the sect are analysed, paying attention to internal splits within the group, as well as external relations with the Nigerian state, and global jihadism. The diverse and wide ranging issues covered in the book makes it valuable for academic researchers, students and policy practitioners both within Africa and beyond.

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2016 in the subject Politics - Region: Africa, grade: 70.0, Obafemi Awolowo University, course: International Relations, language: English, abstract: This study unravels the impact of Boko Haram insurgency on Nigeria’s relations with its Neighbours. This study analyses the nature and character of Nigeria’s neighbours and discovers that it is most time responsible for a low profile in Nigeria’s foreign policy gesture towards them. This phenomenon is not unconnected to their perception of Nigeria as a hegemonic power in its neighbourhood given Nigeria demographic, economic and military preponderance over them. This perception of Nigeria by its neighbours has over the years contributed to their frosty relations notably; the hostile gestures of Chad and Cameroon towards Nigeria, the security concern that the internal crisis in Chad in the 1970s generated for Nigeria coupled with the presence of French forces in N’Djamena at the eve of the Nigerian Civil War. The study draws the attention to how Boko Haram insurgency further influences Nigeria’s relations with its neighbours. The outreach of Boko Haram insurgency beyond the boundary of Nigeria to include that of Nigeria’s neighbours has worsened the existing frosty relations among them. This is true if one considers the fact that the activities of the Boko Haram have gone beyond the north-eastern part of Nigeria, with its violent attacks on the Nigerien soil compounding the already existing economic crisis in Niger Republic, kidnapping of prominent citizens of Cameroon and foreign nationals for ransom motive, its use of Chad as a safe haven and notably, its thwarting of Nigeria’s influence in its neighbourhood, Boko Haram insurgency has forced Nigeria to concentrate more on its domestic issue. The study therefore, concludes by recommending to the government to adopt policies that are expansive and inclusive to address the crisis among which is the revamping of the socioeconomic condition and that attention should be given to border management and administration.

Academic Paper from the year 2021 in the subject Politics - Topic: Peace and Conflict, Security, grade: 2.5, , language: English, abstract: This research examines the impact of Boko Haram insurgency on Nigeria’s national security. The objectives were to determine the nature of Boko Haram insurgency on Nigeria’s security, examine the impact of the Boko Haram insurgency on the national security challenges confronting Nigeria, and determine the cost of tackling insurgency by the federal government of Nigeria. The resurgence of the Boko Haram attacks before, during and after the 2019 general elections showed that the Boko Haram insurgency has not been "technically defeated" as claimed by the federal government of Nigeria. As at May 31, 2019 when this work was concluded, the daily update from the Nigeria’s Security Tracker (NST) of the Council of Foreign Relations (CFR) showed that more than 200 Nigerian and Multinational Joint Taskforce (MJTF), comprising Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroonian troops, Civilian Joint Taskforce (CJTF), insurgents and civilians were killed in just May, 2019 (May 10 – May 31, 2019). These deaths were possible through suicide missions, guerilla attacks, bombings, communities’ massacre, gun battles, ambush, sporadic shooting, kidnappings etc. From 2011 to 2018, Boko Haram insurgents carried out over 3,346 incidents (attacks). This research observed that trillions of naira has been spent in the fight against insurgency by the military as released by the federal government and donor agencies. Countries with strategic economic, political and social interests in Nigeria have also supported financially. However, lack of transparency and accountability on the part of the military, abuse of human rights and lack of transformative approach in tackling the Boko Haram insurgency have undermined the general support (especially morally) needed to ensure that Boko Haram insurgency does not pose any security threats to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Nigerian state.

On August 26, 2011, a suicide bomber drove a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) into the United Nations (U.N.) headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria, killing 23 people and injuring more than 80 others.1 Responsibility for the bombing, one of the deadliest in the United Nations' history, was claimed by Boko Haram, an Islamist religious sect turned insurgent group based in the predominantly Muslim northern Nigeria. While this attack occurred inside Nigerian borders, it was the first time Boko Haram had targeted an international, non-Nigerian entity.

This book offers a detailed examination of the counter-insurgency operations undertaken by the Nigerian military against Boko Haram between 2011 and 2017. Based on extensive fieldwork conducted with military units in Nigeria, Counter-Insurgency in Nigeria has two main aims. First, it seeks to provide an understanding of the Nigerian military’s internal role – a role that today, as a result of internal threats, pivots towards counter-insurgency. The book illustrates how organizational culture, historical experience, institutions, and doctrine, are critical to understanding the Nigerian military and its attitudes and actions against the threat of civil disobedience, today and in the past. The second aim of the book is to examine the Nigerian military campaign against Boko Haram insurgents – specifically, plans and operations between June 2011 and April 2017. Within this second theme, emphasis is placed on the idea of battlefield innovation and the reorganization within the Nigerian military since 2013, as the Nigerian Army and Air Force recalibrated themselves for COIN warfare. A certain mystique has surrounded the technicalities of COIN operations by the Army against Boko Haram, and this book aims to disperse that veil of secrecy. Furthermore, the work’s analysis of the air force’s role in counter-insurgency is unprecedented within the literature on military warfare in Nigeria. This book will be of great interest to students of military studies, counter-insurgency, counter-terrorism, African politics and security studies in general.