Main contributor: Dr. David Heffernan
Militia soldiers in Nigeria

The Boko Haram insurgency is a military insurgency that has been underway in parts of Nigeria since 2009. It was launched by Boko Haram, a radical Islamist group that was founded in 2002 by Mohammed Yusuf. They are a Sunni Islamic group whose initial goal was to attack and drive out Shia Muslims from Nigeria. To this end they began a military insurgency in 2009, one which has largely been confined to the northeast of the country, away from the urbanized centers along the coast in the south. Over time their goals changed to establish an Islamic state within Nigeria and they allied with ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) in the 2010s. The insurgency is still ongoing and has spilled over into neighboring Chad, Niger and Cameroon. The group is known for their brutality and this has caused a mass flight of people from north-eastern Nigeria, part of the wider refugee crisis caused by the Lake Chad Basin Crisis.[1]

Research your ancestors on MyHeritage

Boko Haram insurgency chronology of events

Boko Haram militants

Boko Haram was founded in 2002 by Mohammed Yusuf in Nigeria. Its full name, translated from the Arabic, is ‘Group of the People of Sunnah for Dawa and Jihad’. Boko Haram was adopted as its moniker later on and essentially means ‘Western education is forbidden’. The group emerged out of the wave of Islamic extremism that followed the 9/11 attacks on the United States by Al-Qaeda in 2001. Its original goal was largely to root out Shia Islam from the northeast of Nigeria and impose a strict form of Sunni Islamic law. To that end an uprising was launched in 2009. Mohammed Yusuf was killed in this and was replaced as leader of the group by Abubakar Shekau. Their goals subsequently expanded to establish a separatist Islamic state in north-eastern Nigeria.[2]

The actions of Boko Haram gained international attention in 2014 after they escalated their campaign. Over 10,000 people died in intense fighting and brutal activity by the group in the mid-2010s. They also established links to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, although this would backfire when a rival group emerged to form Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). While ISIS and its activities in Iraq and Syria garnered headlines around the world in the mid-2010s, Boko Haram was actually a more violent organization, imposing strict Islamic law in the territory under its control, engaging in atrocities and forced conversions, and driving millions of people into fleeing from the region to escape from their rule. They also engaged in an aggressive terrorist campaign elsewhere in Nigeria, using suicide bombings and other methods to sow terror.[3]

The territory of Boko Haram and ISWAP

Nigerian government forces attempted a crackdown in the years that followed, while infighting between Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province weakened both groups. As a result, it seemed as though they might be defeated. However, a resurgence in their strength occurred in 2019. They remain in control of some territory in north-eastern Nigeria, though they have been further weakened by military action in the early 2020s. Abubakar Shekau was also killed in 2021. The conflict has spilled over into neighboring countries in the Lake Chad Basin region, namely Chad, Niger and Cameroon. It has also been further complicated by ethnic tensions that have existed in Nigeria ever since the country acquired its independence from Britain in 1960.[4]

Extent of migration caused by the Boko Haram insurgency

The Boko Haram insurgency has led to the displacement of millions of people. Establishing the exact figure is complicated by the fact that the insurgency is part of the wider Lake Chad Basin Crisis, a border defying crisis impacting on Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon, which all have borders extending to Lake Chad. While the Boko Haram insurgency is a major contributory cause of this crisis, there are a number of other factors at play, namely politico-military crises in Niger and Chad in recent years, general instability across the Sahel and the impact of climate change in a part of the world which is most susceptible to its deleterious effects.[5]

Overall it is estimated that nearly four million people have been displaced and ended up migrating as a result of this Lake Chad Basin Crisis. The places the individuals involved have gone to is very varied. Some have migrated towards Lagos and the other great cities of Nigeria that are relatively unaffected by the insurgency. Others have struck out towards the Maghreb and onwards towards Europe. As such, the Boko Haram insurgency has contributed to some extent towards the European Union migration crisis since the mid-2010s. Substantial Nigerian diaspora communities are now found in many European communities. These are at least partially the product of the Boko Haram insurgency.[6]

Demographic impact of the Boko Haram insurgency

The main demographic impact of the Boko Haram insurgency has been to drive people out of north-eastern Nigeria and into other regions. In a country the size of Nigeria and as densely populated this has had a negligible impact on the country’s overall demographics. Beyond Nigeria, the insurgency has led to the flight of hundreds of thousands of Nigerians from their homeland to other countries. There are, for instance, over 300,000 people of Nigerian birth or heritage in the United Kingdom today and over 100,000 each in Italy and Germany. While most of these will not have arrived because of the Boko Haram insurgency, some will. Thus, the insurgency has added to the Nigerian diaspora. This being said, over 90% of all African refugees such as those displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency remain within Africa.[7]

Explore more about the Boko Haram insurgency

Retrieved from ""