Behind The Story
Banditry and Beheadings in Borno, Nigeria
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Maiduguri locals fear an increase in Boko Haram attacks, as Chad withdraws its 1,200 force from the fight. Source: France24/Jan2020.
Jihadist insurgents in northern Nigeria have increased the severity and frequency of their violent attacks on civilians.
37,500 people have been killed by Boko Haram since 2009. 7.1 million people have required humanitarian assistance due to the conflict. Image: WP
Martha Bulus was travelling in a convoy near Maiduguri, Borno State, northern Nigeria with her two bridesmaids on a joyous Boxing Day.
The convo was halted by suspected Boko Haram jihadists and Martha’s Christian bridal party beheaded. Bodies were left scattered on the roadside.
Martha’s death is one of several recent increasingly brutal attacks on locals near Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria and follows a spate of beheadings of Christians across the north of the country.
In recent months hundreds of northerners have been killed by terrorists. Entire towns have been razed to the ground. Thousands have had to flee the violence to the refuge of foreign NGO-led humanitarian camps.
Boko Haram and ISWAP
Starting in 2009, northern Nigeria’s jihadist insurgency, Boko Haram (which roughly translates to ‘western education is forbidden’) began carrying out bombings and violent attacks against Christian groups, the Nigerian military and other representatives of the government. Buoyed by ISIL’s gains in Iraq and Syria, these sporadic attacks grew into the Boko Haram’s aim to establish an Islamic Caliphate in the Lake Chad basin.
In 2014 Boko Haram aligned itself to ISIL’s fight for a caliphate in Iraq and Syria. As well as giving the group new direction, this led to the group temporarily rebranding itself as the Islamic State for the West African Peninsula (ISWAP). Due to internal divisions, however, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has since reclaimed the terror group’s original title. Boko Haram then split into two, with a breakaway faction adopting the ISWAP name.
Across northern Nigeria and the Lake Chad basin over 37,500 people have been killed by Boko Haram and ISWAP since 2009. 7.1 million people have required humanitarian assistance due to the conflict, with many living in camps for internally displaced persons.
An Army Response
The Nigerian government previously claimed to have defeated the insurgency in the north, attempting to do so was a general election pledge in both 2015 and 2019.
Some normalcy returned to northern towns following successful Nigerian military counter-offensive operations between 2015-2017. The Nigerian Armed Forces were ably assisted by coalition partners, Chad, Niger and Cameroon, in addition to South African mercenaries and US, French and British advisors providing assistance.
The Nigerian Army counter-offensives appear to have driven Boko Haram and ISWAP further into the Sambisa Forest and Lake Chad islands.
Since the government counter-offensives, a malaise has crept into the mission against the jihadists. There appears to be a tacit acceptance of a battle that cannot be won. The Nigerian central government has proved unable to coordinate efforts to provide enough troops, equipment and arms to rout the insurgency.
President Buhari’s office regularly refers to the violence extremist terror groups in the north as mere bandits. This apparent downplaying of the jihadist movement a possible PR attempt, to persuade many that the central government has defeated the insurgency. Such an understatement by the central government has frustrated many Nigerians, as it classifies puts terror-driven violence inflicted by Boko Haram and ISWAP on a par with isolated land access clashes between Fulani herdsmen and crop farmers.
In January 2020, African Union coalition partners from around the Lake Chad basin withdrew troops from northern Nigeria. The Chadian military withdrew 1,200 soldiers from the Maiduguri area. Nigerian Armed Forces also withdrew troops from the area. Yet in the past three months, there has been an upsurge in jihadist terror incidents centred on Borno State – the birthplace of the Boko Haram insurgency.
Taken Aback
“I was taken aback by what is happening in the north-west and other parts of the country. During our campaigns, we knew about the Boko Haram. What is coming now is surprising. It is not ethnicity or religion, rather it is one evil plan against the country.”
Addressing the matter in February, President of Nigeria and former General Buhari stated that he was ‘taken aback’ by what was happening in the country.
Since December 2019 over 100 people have been killed in Borno State, Nigeria. Boko Haram and ISWAP have stepped up abductions and brutal killings in northern Nigeria and neighbouring Chad. Frustration against the Nigerian government’s perceived lacklustre response has continued to grow amongst Nigerians, as the government shifts focus to rehabilitation centres for militants, rather than dedicating troops towards the battle against the insurgency. Locals in northern towns such as Maiduguri remain anxious of the increased insecurity, as the beheadings and abductions continue to rise.
Nigerian Army vehicle control point in Maiduguri.
Source: EPA