Boko Haram

Boko Haram, White Paper:

INTL 434 Threat Analysis

Dr. Joe DiRenzo

September 04, 2016

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Located in northeast Nigeria, Boko Haram is an Islamic terrorist group that has primarily focused on battling the Nigerian government. During the year 2002 was when the group was founded, since then they have been responsible for over five-thousand murders to date. In addition to the acts of murder that the group has committed, they have been responsible for the displacement of close to two million citizens of Nigeria. Both of these facts propel Boko Haram into the top list of terrorist organizations in operation today as far as organization and sheer brutalization. Much support has been given to the Nigerian government in their fight against the organization, but the citizens of Nigeria has been outspoken in their accusations that the government has not been doing enough to combat the threat (O.A, 2014).

Founded by Mohammed Yusuf, the organization began to support poor Muslim Families. Their complex was located in the capital of Borno. Denouncing the “Westernization” of Nigerian culture and society, he routinely spoke out against the Nigerian government and the path that Nigeria’s society was following. There were significant differences in wealth due to the influx of western policies. Many of the young Nigerian citizens who were unable to find employment and wealth were quickly attracted to the cause and rhetoric that Yusuf was professing. The division of wealth not only lead the rallying cries of the group, but the division of Christians into the commonly Muslim society was a stark difference that the group was able to capitalize on. Both of these differences gave the group the cause and reason to support their cause and gain a solid foothold in the Nigerian country.

From the outset, the group was a peaceful movement that found acceptance in society and the Nigerian government. The focus that Boko Haram practiced was called al-amr bi-l-ma`ruf was-l-nahy `an al-munkar, which translated means; enjoining the good and forbidding the evil (Cook, 2011). Aligning many of the practices of the group such as rejection of drugs and alcohol, many followers of Islam found it easy to fall into the same beliefs and join the group thus swelling the members. As the group grew the creation of a militant section took place. With the group growing through the introduction of many Islamic practitioners, the primary motivation of the group was and is still the issues of government neglect and the inequalities between the poor and the wealthy in the country.

The beginnings of Boko Haram’s terrorist activities against the military and police began during the year of 2004 in Nigeria and is considered the transition from non-violent to a violent group (Cook, 2011). After the attacks had begun, many of the members of Boko Haram were arrested and discovered to be armed with bomb-making items and heavy weapons. Due to the arrests there began a period of riots within the Nigeria country to retaliate against the police including attacking the actual police stations. In an attempt to suppress the control that Boko Haram had demonstrated through the riots, the Nigerian government attacked the headquarters of the group in the largest use of force the country had ever seen displayed against terrorists. Over seven-hundred members of Boko Haram were killed during the assault on the headquarters including the leader Mohammed Yusuf (Nossiter, 2009). This left control of the Organization to Abubakar Shekau who was the second in command of the organization.

The government of Nigeria believed that the threat of Boko Haram had ended with the death of their leader. A year after his death the group freed one-hundred and five members from a prison. After releasing their members, they conducted a purification agenda and murdered any member of the military or police as well as any individual that did not share their ideology. Their attacks remained constant for the next three years targeting Nigerian government members and local villages. The attacks spread out of the Nigerian state of Borno forcing the other Nigerian states to declare a state of emergency in the year 2013. This allowed the Nigerian military to expand its attacks on the group; the group maintained control of territory on the border of Cameroon; this allowed the group the ability to fall back into the mountains of Cameroon and hide from military air strikes.

Estimates have the group Boko Haram responsible for at least ten-thousand people murdered across four states in Nigeria since the demise of their founder. The funding that the group receives is intricate and flows from several sources such as groups with links to al-Qaeda. Many reports of black market transactions and the mystery international benefactor are also credited for their funding, but the act of Kidnapping is the most recognized tool that the group uses to fund itself (McCoy, 2014).

Boko Haram has primarily functioned within the nation of Nigeria, however with the United States and other countries supporting efforts against the group with financial backing, weapons, and training to the Nigerian government; the potential for the group to strike against United States citizens and the nation itself is high. Targets of opportunity could be diplomats in the Nigerian State or neighboring countries. Boko Haram has known financial links to the Al-Shabaab terrorist group. They provide funding and training to the group in Somalia (Busari, 2016). Training on how to conduct suicide attacks and direction on building various explosives is some of the training that the group receives from Al Shabaab.

Within the past several years the Nigerian government has seen some success in thwarting Boko Haram. The group has taken to employing guerilla tactics as they conduct their operations from the mountains. Some things that the country might be successful in doing to better combat the group is to consider some the complaints the group has concerning the methods by which the country is run. Possibly demonstrating to the public that the government is attempting to correct a perceived problem would give them the sympathy over the group with the citizens of the country.

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Works Cited
Busari, S. “Boko Haram Training in Somalia: Security Chief .com.” CNN. Last modified February 25, 2016. http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/25/africa/boko-haram-al-shabaab-somalia/.

Cook, D. “Boko Haram: a new Islamic state in Nigeria.” Last modified 2014.

“The Economist Explains: Why Nigeria Has Not Yet Defeated Boko Haram.” The Economist. Last modified November 19, 2014. http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2014/11/economist-explains-10.

“Islamist Group With Possible Qaeda Links Upends Nigeria – The New York Times.” The New York Times – Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. Last modified August 17, 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/18/world/africa/18nigeria.html?_r=0.

Johnson, T. “Boko Haram Narrative.” START.umd.edu. Last modified April 13, 2011. https://www.start.umd.edu/baad/narratives/boko-haram.

Logan, Keith Gregory. Homeland Security and Intelligence. Westport, CT: Praeger Security International, 2010.

“This is How Boko Haram Funds Its Evil – The Washington Post.” Washington Post. Last modified June 6, 2014. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/06/06/this-is-how-boko-haram-funds-its-evil/.