Boko Haram's History: Radical Islam in Nigeria
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Boko Haram’s History:
Radical Islam in Nigeria
Boko Haram’s History:
Radical Islam in Nigeria
Written by Christopher Wall
This system led to a bifurcated country, with
Contextualizing Boko a productive south flush with oil wealth and
an impoverished north, struggling to reconcile
Haram Beyond Chibok modernization with the dictates of the orthodox and
rapacious power brokers. These differences widened
After months of setbacks, the Islamic State of Iraq with the British withdrawal, giving Nigeria a split
and Syria (ISIS) received an important PR boost when identity. Two political cultures, informed by competing
the Nigerian terror-cum-insurgent group Boko Haram values and interests, created some of the starkest
declared its allegiance to ISIS in March 2015. The economic and political contradictions for a modern
pledge, more symbolic than tangible, enabled ISIS to polity. With a history laden with coups, dictatorships,
continue claiming it was expanding, despite losing political violence, and repression, today Nigeria is
large amounts of territory since September 2014. As concomitantly the richest country in West Africa and
many commentators noted, from an optics perspective, one of the most violent, all the while transitioning into
the move made sense. Both groups shared a similar an institutionalized democracy.
Salafist-ideology, an affinity for violence against non-
Muslims and Muslims alike, and a desire to establish No group epitomizes this systemic contradiction like
a global caliphate uniting all Muslims. The similarities Boko Haram. Existing on the periphery of the public’s
ended there, however. conscious for most of its history, Boko Haram formed
in 2002 around the Islamic scholar, Muhammad Yusuf.
Although Boko Haram was funded in part by Yusuf preached a rigid and exclusionist doctrine,
Osama bin Laden in 2002, in many ways, it was rejecting all forms of western culture and advocating
a product of Nigeria’s colonization experience a geocentric model of the universe and claiming that
by the British and their inability to subdue the the earth was flat. These beliefs earned it the nickname
areas formerly under the Sokoto Caliphate in “Boko Haram” or “Western Education is Forbidden” in
Northern Nigeria. the local Hausa language. From 2003 until July 2009,
Yusuf concentrated on developing Boko Haram’s
After assuming control of the country in 1861, the organizational structure, recruiting from Nigeria’s poor,
British failed to modernize the northern territories and and currying favors with politicians in the northern half
instead co-opted the exhausted Islamic institution left of the country to cement his position as a power broker
by the Sokoto caliphate with capricious warlords. and one of the wealthiest men in Northern Nigeria. This
changed in July 2009 when he launched an uprising
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Boko Haram’s History:
Radical Islam in Nigeria
that killed 800 people over several days. In the ensuing What is interesting about the Maitatsine Riots is
conflagration, Nigerian security forces captured, that two curious historical wrinkles bind those
tortured, and killed Yusuf. events to Boko Haram. First, the current President
of Nigeria, Muhamadu Buhari participated in the
At the time, people mistakenly believed that Nigeria counterinsurgency campaigns of the 1980s. Second,
had weathered the Boko Haram menace. For the next Muhammad Yusuf’s uncle, the man that raised him, also
year and a half, Boko Haram experienced factional participated in the conflict as a lieutenant in Mawra’s
vicissitudes, as surviving members fought against movements.
each other to replace Yusuf. During this time, the group
established international ties with terror groups across These multiple threads embody interesting stories
the Maghreb and Sahel, thereby becoming stronger unto themselves, but only achieve their true value
in the process. By 2011, the group reorganized around when united to tell the story of Boko Haram. This brief
Abubaker Shekau and initiated the deadliest phase of analysis will look at the various events that created
its insurgency. the group, their historical context, and the events
that followed. What will emerge is that Boko Haram
is more than an ISIS-wannabe and that their violence
is far worse than the kidnapping of the Chibok girls in
April 2014 suggests. Indeed, the researcher’s goal in
this short presentation is to encourage further study
into the Boko Haram phenomenon, illustrate analytical
unknowns, and to help curious observers demystify the
insurgency.
Boko Haram, its
Antecedents, and its
The kidnapped Chibok girls — Courtesy of Reuters
This brief historical account only encompasses the
most accessible details of the group: the information Evolution
that is understood but that never reaches the
undercurrent which animates the violence plaguing Boko Haram formed in 2002, but its organizational
Nigeria. When looking at Nigeria’s history since roots date back to the time of the Maitatsine riots
decolonization, Boko Haram is only the continuation of of the 1980s. In December 1980, a radical preacher
violent movements that have plagued the North every named Mohammad Marwa from Northern Cameroon
couple of decades, suggesting structural conditions instigated his followers to rise up against the Nigerian
that exist independently of democratic governance state. Marwa, nicknamed Maitatsine (“the one who
in Abuja or the sectarian character of the country’s damns” in Hausa), considered himself a prophet and
leadership. Indeed, contextualizing Boko Haram in this spoke against western culture and education. When
manner allows researchers to explore linkages in the the first riots began in 1980, Muhammed Yusuf’s uncle
present to the Maitatsine Uprisings that convulsed served as one of Maitatsine’s lieutenants. He survived
Northern Nigeria in the 1980s. In that instance, a the subsequent riots put down by General Muhammadu
radical preacher from Northern Cameroon named Buhari and would go on to raise his new nephew.
Mohamad Marwa organized a massive uprising in Kano
in December 1980. Subsequent uprisings occurred In 2002, Osama bin Laden sent $3 million to Nigeria to
between 1982 and 1985. help form a terrorist group in that country. With help
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Boko Haram’s History:
Radical Islam in Nigeria
from al-Qaeda, Muhammed Yusuf co-opted a local Muhammed Yusuf first moved his followers to the
youth group at a university in Maiduguri, starting Boko countryside where he spent months indoctrinating
Haram. Yusuf preached a radical strain of Islam that them. They returned to Maiduguri in 2003 and began
rejected all forms of Western education, much like recruiting from Nigeria’s Alamjiri children. The
his spiritual predecessor Maitatsine. He believed that Alamajiri system is a wholly unique Nigerian concept
science was a form of paganism, that the earth was whereby poor rural families send their children to
flat, and that Nigeria needed to replace all Western Islamic boarding schools for their education. Lacking
institutions with Sharia law. any money, the children finance their education by
begging on the streets. Yusuf recruited these children
Boko Haram occasionally carried out attacks as foot soldiers. Later, as Muhammed Yusuf’s group
in its initial years, but spent most the years grew, he developed close ties with politicians in the
between 2003 and 2009 developing its north. These connections enriched him, coming to own
organizational and institutional structures. several Mercedes-Benzes, a large home in Maiduguri,
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Boko Haram’s History:
Radical Islam in Nigeria
and enough money to send his daughters to private These two developments paid immediate dividends.
schools, despite his rejection of Western education. By December 2010, Boko Haram started attacking
targets across Northern Nigeria again, and in June 2011,
In 2009, Yusuf operationalized his group and initiated a the group committed its first vehicle-borne suicide
series of uprisings in July of that year. The response by attack in Abuja. Then, in August, Boko Haram attacked
the Nigerian state was brutal. Nearly a thousand Boko the UN compound in Abuja, internationalizing its fight
Haram members died and placing it under the broader context of al-Qaeda’s
Many survivors from the during the battles, and global jihadist movement. Defectors later claimed that
riots fled to the Maghreb the police later captured Boko Haram attacked the UN to repay AQIM for its help
and trained with al-Qaeda and killed Muhammed during its state of disarray following Yusuf’s death.
in the Islamic Maghreb. Yusuf, leaving the group
in a state of uncertainty.
Two events reenergized the group. First, many
survivors from the riots fled to the Maghreb and
trained with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
These militants would later return to Nigeria with
increased knowledge on waging guerrilla warfare and
with an intimate understanding of the manufacture
and use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Second,
Abubakar Shekau, a former Yusuf deputy, assumed
control of the group in the middle of 2010, giving Boko
Haram operational direction again. Shekau assumes control — Courtesy of AFP/Getty Images
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Boko Haram’s History:
Radical Islam in Nigeria
The burst of violence in 2011 initiated the divided between supporters of Boko Haram and
deadliest phase of Boko Haram’s insurgency. supporters of the Nigerian government. People began
Between 2011 and 2013, the group killed to claim that Nigeria’s President, Goodluck Jonathan,
thousands using suicide attacks against refused to intervene in Northern Nigeria because of
civilian and state targets. his Christian background, threatening the country with
sectarianism.
In April 2013, Boko Haram committed the first massacre
at the remote town of Baga. The response by the Boko Haram’s violence worsened during the following
Nigerian military was disastrous, with survivors year. The group truly gained international infamy in
claiming that the soldiers themselves set the town April 2014, however, when it kidnapped 234 girls from
on fire. The first Baga Massacre left Northern Nigeria a school in Chibok, and likely forced them to convert to
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Boko Haram’s History:
Radical Islam in Nigeria
Islam to marry them off. The news spread across the to kill as many people as possible. It started its bloody
world, making it public enemy number 1 for a brief few campaign in Baga killing an estimated 2000 people. The
weeks in April 2014, as people called for the return of violence over the three day period made it the single
the girls. This attention faded soon after, as events in worst act of terror since 9/11.
Iraq and Syria made the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria
(ISIS) the epicenter of the global jihadist threat. Boko Boko Haram did not
Haram continued terrorizing Nigeria for the rest of rest on its laurels, Boko Haram started
the year, and none of the girls were returned to their using young girls as 2015 with one bloody
families. suicide bombers across objective: create an
Northern Nigeria impervious sense of
The summer of 2014 represents a turning point for in several attacks insecurity to force
Boko Haram. In June, ISIS advanced through Northern throughout January. It Nigeria to postpone
Iraq and declared a caliphate over the territories it concentrated most of its elections.
ruled. This move inspired Boko Haram, whom captured its energies on seizing
the town of Gwoza and declared a caliphate in August. Maiduguri, attacking the city three times. The Nigerian
This move positioned the group to increase the tempo military, with help from local militias, successfully
of its activities across Nigeria and to attempt to disrupt repelled these attacks.
the scheduled elections in Nigeria set for February
2015. It also expanded its activities into nearby At the time, Boko Haram seemed invincible. It had
countries, specifically Chad and Cameroon. committed a major strategic error at the tale-end
of 2014: it started attacking targets in Chad and
Cameroon, ramping up its raids in 2015. On the night
of January 18, it kidnapped 80 people from Cameroon,
The Baga Massacre and barely a week after attacking a Cameroonian military
outpost near the Nigerian border. On January 31, the
Nigeria’s Election Chadian military killed some 120 Boko Haram militants
in Cameroon during joint-operations with that country.
Boko Haram started 2015 with one bloody objective:
create an impervious sense of insecurity to force These attacks inspired all the affected countries to
Nigeria to postpone its elections. To this end, it sought form a coalition to eradicate Boko Haram. The African
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Boko Haram’s History:
Radical Islam in Nigeria
of this force initially that were proven wrong over the
next two months.
There was a temporal lag in terms of this multinational
force effecting change in Nigeria’s security
environment. Boko Haram killed around 70 people in
the town of Fotokol, and then terrorized the Niger town
of Diffa. These and other events convinced Nigeria’s
government to postpone its elections by six weeks. The
Nigerian military promised that free-and-fair elections
would be held on March 28.
Chadian troops in Nigeria — Courtesy of AFP
In late February and early March, the military started
Union promised to deploy 7500 troops drawn from delivering on its promises. With the help of Niger, Chad,
Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, and Benin to fight the and Cameroon, Nigeria slowly uprooted Boko Haram’s
insurgents. Doubts percolated about the effectiveness infrastructure in Northeastern Nigeria. By March 5,
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Boko Haram’s History:
Radical Islam in Nigeria
the Chief of the Air Staff noted that the guerrillas had available indicate that there were at least informal ties
virtually lost their command and control capabilities. between al-Qaeda and Boko Haram.
This was fortuitous for the country as it geared itself
for elections at the end of the month. Osama bin Laden certainly had intentions for
making Nigeria a major theater for expanding
On March 27, 2015, Nigeria retook Gwoza, the nominal operations after singling it out in a missive
capital of Boko Haram’s caliphate. This allowed the released in 2003.
country to hold elections on March 28 — elections that
the UN deemed as free-and-fair. That said, no information exists about the direct
benefits of this relationship for Boko Haram beyond
the al-Qaeda brand and the initial seed money. Indeed,
various commentators have noted that among radical
The Internationalization Islamic groups to al-Qaeda, Yusuf’s group is notable for
its narrow domestic focus until 2011.
of Boko Haram
After Yusuf’s death in 2009, many Boko Haram
The above narratives captured the origins of Boko members fled abroad. Reports indicate that some went
Haram and its evolution leading up to the elections of to Somalia to fight with al-Shabab. Most probably went
2015. What it does not show are its fluid international to fight with AQIM though. In early 2010, the head of
ties, and their function as a catalyst for change. As AQIM declared his support for the Nigerian terrorists,
noted before, Boko Haram began with seed money criticizing the Nigerian Government for the death of
given to it by Osama bin Laden, encrusting it firmly Muhammed Yusuf. This relationship translated into
within al-Qaeda’s umbrage. In 2002, al-Qaeda was significant improvements in Boko Haram’s tactical
a centralized organization based in Pakistan, with approach after mobilizing again in 2010. In 2011, it
affiliates loosely following its direction. Boko Haram started using vehicle-borne IEDs in combination with
was not in a position to contribute to the broader shock tactics where explosions were used to draw
global jihadist movement, but it mimicked al-Qaeda’s out security forces, who were then ambushed with
character extensively. additional IEDs. These types of coordinated assaults
originated in Afghanistan and Iraq, and it is likely
A review of the documents recovered from bin Laden’s that Boko Haram learned how to successfully carry
hideout in Abbottabad that have been made publicly them out because of its relationship with AQIM. 2011
was also the first time that Boko Haram attacked an
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Boko Haram’s History:
Radical Islam in Nigeria
international target, executing a suicide bombing at the By late summer of 2014, Boko Haram had
UN compound in Abuja as a favor to AQIM. virtually conquered Northeastern Nigeria. It
also learned from the failures of AQIM in Mali
These ties grew deeper in 2012 when the crisis in and the successes of ISIS in Iraq.
Northern Mali began. As AQIM took over the northern
half of the country, it attracted many Boko Haram The sense of impunity accompanying its activities
militants. Although the French eventually restored convinced its leadership that the group was positioned
order to the country in 2013, the conflict proved an to declare a caliphate in the town of Gwoza. Gwoza
important proving ground for many Nigerian militants. before Boko Haram captured it was a mostly Christian
Whereas before Boko Haram was a successful terrorist town along the border with Cameroon. Abubakar
organization, few of its fighters had training in guerrilla Shekau, in announcing his own proto-state, most likely
warfare. This improvement in capabilities translated hoped to draw Muslim recruits from Chad, Niger, and
into bloodier raids in Nigeria and various successful Nigeria, thereby strengthening his organization. Unlike
engagements against the Nigerian military. ISIS though, Boko Haram was not innovating or actively
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Boko Haram’s History:
Radical Islam in Nigeria
courting many western fighters. Furthermore, it lacked pioneered by ISIS. Finally in early March, in an act of
a strong social media presence. complete desperation, Abubakar Shekau declared his
group’s allegiance to ISIS. By that point, the Nigerian
From August 2014 until January 2015, Boko Haram had militants were close to collapse. Two weeks later,
reached its final form in terms of violence. Its violence the Nigerian security forces successfully recaptured
had worn the Nigerian military thin, and an increasing Gwoza.
number of reports suggested that soldiers would often
flee than fight the insurgents. For example, in February
2014, militants successfully killed 30 teenagers at the
Federal Government College in Yobe after the military Conclusion
withdrew its forces in anctipation of a raid by Boko
Haram. Boko Haram is not defeated. Although Nigeria managed
to reclaim a territory the size of Belgium in a mere six
Similarly, during the Second Baga Massacre in January weeks in early 2015, Abubakar Shekau and the rest of
2015, many soldiers fled, leaving the defense of the its leadership remain at large. Indeed, no major leader
town to poorly armed local militias. The problem for the of Boko Haram or of any of its affiliates were killed or
group was that it felt it could expand into Cameroon, captured during the fighting leading up to the elections,
Chad, and Niger despite it lacking the organizational and a UN analysis noted that by the end of April 2015,
capacity to wage a transnational insurgency in West Boko Haram’s organizational structure remained
Africa. With a commitment from all affected countries
to cooperate in uprooting Boko Haram’s infrastructure,
the group soon fell apart, requiring it to find another
means of maintaining its image of invincibility.
To this end, the group started copying the strongest
terrorist group at the time: ISIS. Although the Islamic
State had suffered major losses after the United States
began its air campaign against it in September 2014, its
use of social media and slick execution videos made it
appear stronger than it really was. Boko Haram started
using social media and produced its own execution
videos, copying many of the directorial techniques Chadian troops in Nigeria — Courtesy of AFP
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Radical Islam in Nigeria
virtually intact. If anything, the report concluded, the reservoir of tolerance towards these abuses, but this
group had only retreated strategically and that it would wellspring of support is a finite resource.
continue threatening Nigeria and its neighbors in the
near term unless the Nigerian government did more to These two facts mean Northeastern Nigeria will remain
secure the peace. contested territory between the Nigerian government
and Boko Haram in the near future.
These conclusions make more sense when breaking
down the various battles of the Sambisa Forest Like all insurgencies, Boko Haram derives
campaign, the area liberated in March 2015. Various its strength from the lack of legitimacy of
aftermath reports suggest that much of the success the central government stemming from its
against Boko Haram came from South African inability to govern and to provide for the basic
mercenaries who gave the Nigerian military a crash needs of its peoples.
course on unconventional warfare starting in January
With the endemic poverty, corruption, and the genuine
distrust towards the central government, Nigeria must
learn how to govern and protect its people from the
guerrillas and life’s vicissitudes. Fortunately for it,
Boko Haram is not its match in that domain. It might be
violent and might derive inspiration from ISIS, but so
far, it seems to lack any sophisticated understanding of
governance or institution building to make it a genuine
rival for the hearts and minds of Northern Nigerians.
Muhammadu Buhari assumed the presidency on May
29. He campaigned on the promise of returning security
Muhammadu Buhari — Courtesy of Timely News to the country, much like he did in the 1980s during
the Maitatsine Uprisings. Violence in Nigeria may have
2015. Many of the victories claimed by the army were reached a lull, but if Buhari intends on defeating Boko
battles that the mercenaries had fought the night Haram and other groups like it permanently, he must
before, with Nigerian soldiers only arriving in the look beyond military fight and address the political
morning to take credit for their activities. In addition, issues animating the conflict. There are signs of hope in
the campaign benefitted from a 10,000 strong this regard. For one, since his days as a dictator he has
multinational coalition force led by Chad and supported had a reputation for reforming and for cracking down
with intelligence and training by the United States and on corruption. Two, the fight against Boko Haram is
other western nations. Finally, some reports noted personal, as he survived an assassination attempt by
that Nigeria’s counterinsurgency strategy launched the group in 2014. To paraphrase another commentator,
in February was not so much a population-centric Buhari does not need to be good, just be good enough
model that respects human rights, but rather a dirty to defeat Boko Haram and secure Nigeria.
war, akin to the French approach to counterinsurgency,
involving heavy civilian casualties and the wanton use Time will tell if Buhari is capable of defeating Boko
of violence. Given the depravity of Boko Haram in recent Haram, but if history is any indication, Boko Haram’s
years, the civilians in the north have likely built a large capabilities and determination are still growing, and its
lethality still increasing.
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