57 Facts About Boko Haram

1.

The group has been known for its brutality, and since the insurgency started in 2009, Boko Haram has killed tens of thousands of people, in frequent attacks against the police, armed forces and civilians.

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2.

Boko Haram has contributed to regional food crises and famines.

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3.

In September 2015, the Director of Information at the Defence Headquarters of Nigeria announced that all Boko Haram camps had been destroyed but attacks from the group continue.

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4.

However, attacks by Boko Haram have a separate investigation conducted by The Wall Street Journal backed recent claims that Shekau was dead.

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5.

Name Boko Haram is usually translated as "Western education is forbidden".

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6.

Boko Haram opposes the Westernization of Nigerian society, which it blames for "Nigeria's culture of corruption", and demands the establishment of an Islamic state in Nigeria.

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7.

Boko Haram established a religious complex and school that attracted poor Muslim families from across Nigeria and neighbouring countries.

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8.

Boko Haram is reported to have used the existing infrastructure in Borno of the Izala Society, a popular conservative Islamic sect, to recruit members, before breaking away to form his own faction.

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9.

Boko Haram conducted its operations more or less peacefully during the first seven years of its existence, withdrawing from society into remote north-eastern areas, believing it was important to develop strength before waging jihad.

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10.

Borno's Deputy Governor Alhaji Dibal has reportedly claimed that al-Qaeda had ties with Boko Haram, but broke them when they decided that Yusuf was an unreliable person.

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11.

Boko Haram'skau responded to his demotion by breaking off from ISIS under his groups old name of Jama'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihad .

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12.

Shortly before it pledged allegiance to ISIL, the government launched the 2015 West African offensive during which Boko Haram lost most of the territory it had occupied over time.

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13.

Boko Haram'skau rejected the move, leading to a split between the groups.

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14.

Since 2018, there has been major spike in attacks by Boko Haram, concentrated in Borno State, in order to be the prevalent terror group in the country.

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15.

Attacks by Boko Haram resulted in over 1700 fatalities in first half of 2019, including casualties of its own members.

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16.

Boko Haram is better equipped with drones, weapons and vehicles captured from and sometimes abandoned by Nigerian military during ambush.

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17.

Several Boko Haram members were killed in the operation, while Shekau blew himself up, or tried to do so, in order to avoid a capture.

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18.

Boko Haram's attacks consist of suicide bombings as well as conventional armed assaults on both civilian and military targets.

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19.

Boko Haram was succeeded by Abubakar Shekau, formerly his second-in-command.

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20.

The increased sophistication of the group led observers to speculate that Boko Haram was affiliated with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, which was active in Niger.

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21.

Boko Haram has maintained a steady rate of attacks since 2011, striking a wide range of targets, multiple times per week.

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22.

However, on 8 January 2012 the president said that Boko Haram had infiltrated both the army and the police, as well as the executive, parliamentary and legislative branches of government.

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23.

Boko Haram added: "We are doing what we are doing to fight injustice, if they stop their satanic ways of doing things and the injustices, we would stop what we are doing".

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24.

Subsequent campaign of violence by Boko Haram culminated in a string of bombings across the country on Christmas Day.

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25.

Nigeria's Borno State, where Boko Haram is based, adjoins Lake Chad as do Niger, Cameroon and the country of Chad.

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26.

In 2013, Boko Haram increased operations in Northern Cameroon, and were involved in skirmishes along the borders of Chad and Niger.

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27.

In February 2013, Boko Haram was responsible for kidnapping seven French tourists in the far north of Cameroon.

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28.

Boko Haram has often managed to evade the Nigerian Army by retreating into the hills around the border with Cameroon, whose army is apparently unwilling to confront them.

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29.

Boko Haram'skau announced his intention of selling them into slavery.

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30.

The incident brought Boko Haram extended global media attention, much of it focused on the pronouncements of the U S Former First Lady Michelle Obama Faced with condemnation for his perceived incompetence, as well as allegations from Amnesty International of state collusion, President Jonathan responded by hiring a Washington PR firm.

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31.

Boko Haram continued to increase its presence in northern Cameroon.

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32.

On election day 28 March 2015, Boko Haram extremists killed 41 people, including a legislator, to discourage hundreds from voting.

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33.

Boko Haram forces were believed to have retreated to the Mandara Mountains, along the Nigeria-Cameroon border.

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34.

Furthermore, Boko Haram militants had taken over several parish centres within the diocese.

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35.

Several days after the bombing, Boko Haram claimed responsibility via Twitter, signing as "Islamic State, West Africa province".

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36.

Buhari later reiterated in December that Boko Haram was "technically defeated" and declared in December 2016 that the group had been entirely ousted from its last stronghold of Sambisa Forest.

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37.

Eleven militants and two soldiers were killed at Kaika, and in an attempted suicide bombing at Bougouma, "Two members of Boko Haram were neutralised and a third blew himself up, wounding 11 civilians", according to a government statement.

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38.

Boko Haram said that IDPs in Niger are posing huge challenges to the country and "require a strong and comprehensive response".

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39.

Johns Hopkins University figures indicated that Boko Haram killed 244 people in the second quarter – the lowest quarterly figure for five years.

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40.

Boko Haram'skau has released videos since the split in which he refers to his group by its previous name of Jama'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihad.

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41.

The Nigerian Army claims that the disputed Boko Haram leader died from injuries to his shoulders while he was performing prayer.

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42.

Boko Haram further stated that the military expected recapturing the final strongholds of the group within weeks.

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43.

Boko Haram kidnapped 110 schoolgirls from the Government Technical Girls College in Dapchi, Yobe State, on 19 February 2018, killing five of them on the same day.

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44.

The army stated that all Boko Haram fighters were killed, although the number was not stated.

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45.

Boko Haram was founded by Mohammed Yusuf who led the group from 2002 until his death in 2009.

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46.

Boko Haram is said to have raised substantial sums of money by kidnapping people for ransom.

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47.

In 2013, Boko Haram kidnapped a family of seven French tourists while they were on vacation in Cameroon and two months later, Boko Haram released the hostages along with 16 others in exchange for a ransom of $3.

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48.

In 2011, letters from Boko Haram were reportedly found in Osama bin Laden's compound.

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49.

Three weeks after the 2009 Boko Haram uprising began, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb expressed sympathy for Boko Haram.

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50.

The UN found that a "number of Boko Haram members fought alongside al Qaeda affiliated groups in Mali in 2012 and 2013 before returning to Nigeria with terrorist expertise".

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51.

The issues which divide AQ and Boko Haram are related to the extremism of Abubakar Shekau with respect to his declaration that the entire Muslim population of Nigeria is non-Muslim.

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52.

Boko Haram'skau argued that it was legitimate to kill Muslim civilians based on his belief that apostasy was widespread among the general population of Nigerian Muslims because they voted in elections.

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53.

Boko Haram are better armed and are better motivated than our own troops.

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54.

The U S government does not believe Boko Haram is currently affiliated with al Qaeda Central, despite periodic pledges of support and solidarity from its leadership for al-Qaeda, but is particularly concerned about ties between Boko Haram and Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb .

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55.

Efforts to cooperate in freeing the Chibok schoolgirls had faltered, largely due to mutual distrust; the infiltration of the military by Boko Haram meant that U S officials were wary of sharing raw intelligence data, and the Nigerian military had failed to supply information that might have aided U S drone flights in locating the kidnapped girls.

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56.

The Nigerian government claims that Boko Haram is "the West Africa branch of the world-wide Al-Qaeda movement" with connections to al-Shabaab in Somalia and AQIM in Mali.

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57.

In October 2015, General David M Rodriguez, the head of the United States Africa Command, reported that Boko Haram has lost territory, directly contradicting statements which were made by Boko Haram.

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