Presented by: Chidiebere C. Ogbonna at the Institute of Peace and Conflict Research, University of Granada, Spain

BACKGROUND DETAILS OF BOKO HARAM SECT. Formed in 2002 by Mohammed Yusuf in Borno State and spread to Yobe, Kano and Bauchi States  Motto: Anti-Western ideology.  Security forces clamped-down on the group and Mohammed Yusuf was arrested. On 30 th of July 2009, he was shot by the police alongside 700 members of his group.

CHANGE OF LEADERSHIP Mohammed Shekau: second- in–command takes over. Escalation of violence. Changed their name to: Jama’atul Ahlussunnah Lidda’awati Wal-jihad. Congregation of followers of the Prophet involved in call to Islam and religious struggle.

TERRITORY CONTROLLED BY BOKO HARAM.

MAIN OBJECTIVES OF BOKO HARAM Islamization. Carry out Jihad. Repel and reject Western values.

MAJOR ATTACKS BY BOKO HARAM June 16, 2011: Bombing of Police headquarters. August 26, 2011: Bombing of UN headquarters. December 25, 2011: Bombing of Churches in Plateau State. April 14, 2014: Bombing of a bus park in Nyanya. November 28, 2014: Bombing of mosque in Kano state.

MAJOR ATTACKS BY BOKO HARAM CONT… April ; kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls.

#BRINGBACKOURGIRLS

FACTS AND FIGURES ABOUT ATTACKS BY BOKO HARAM. Carried out about 30 bomb attacks between 2011 and Carried out more than 10 successful jail breaks and freed over 3000 comrades. About 13,000 casualties (Pres. Goodluck Jonathan- Oct 14, 2014). 90,000 police officers are among the casualties (Solomon Arase- Nov 12, 2015). More than 2.1 million people have been displaced (IOM Report- September 4, 2015).

AFFILIATIONS AND FINANCIAL SUPPORT. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (The Daily Beast). May 2015, pledged allegiance to ISIS. Speculations of domestic funding.

MEASURES ADOPTED BY THE GOVERNMENT TO COMBAT TERRORISM IN NIGERIA. Anti-terrorism Act Section 2(C) provides that terrorism is viewed as an act which involves anyone who causes “an attack upon a person's life which may cause serious bodily harm or death; kidnapping of a person; destruction to a government or public facility, transport system, an infrastructural facility including an information system, a fixed platform located on the continental shelf, public place or private property likely to endanger human life or result in major economic loss. The seizure (hijack) of an aircraft, ship or other means of public or goods transport and the use of such means of transportation for any of the purposes…"

MEASURES ADOPTED BY THE GOVERNMENT CONT... Deployment of more soldiers. Collaboration with neigbouring countries International collaboration on intelligence gathering. The AU pledged its support to fight against Boko Haram.

CHALLENGES OF COMBATING BOKO HARAM. Porous border.

CHALLENGES OF COMBATING BOKO HARAM CONT… Mode of operation. Corruption. Lack of political will. Sabotage within the Nigerian army.

SUGGESTIONS AND REFLECTIONS Improvement of Education. Nigeria Educational profile by regions in 2010 (Pres. Olusegun Obsanjo- May 27, 2015). South West per cent South East per cent North East per cent  Poverty- create employment  Social reorientation  Improvement of the welfare of servicemen

GRACIAS POR ESCUCHARME

RECOMENDED READING AKPAN, FELIX ET AL. (2014) Boko Haram Insurgency and the Counter-Terrorism Policy in Nigeria, Canadian Social Science, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp ew/4259/pdf_24 ew/4259/pdf_24