What’s Happening With Boko Haram?

Boko Haram controls large swathes of territory in north-eastern Nigeria. Picture from bbc.com

Who is Boko Haram?

Boko Haram, which translates to “Western Education is a Sin”, is a terrorist group of extremist Sunni Muslims. They are based primarily in Nigeria, as well as the surrounding countries of Chad, Niger and Cameroon. Led by Abubakar Shekau, their goal is to establish an Islamic State in Nigeria, and they have been linked to al-Qaeda and ISIS.

The group was founded in 2002, and grew increasingly radical until they attacked the city of Maiduguri in July 2009. The uprising killed over 700 people including Boko Haram’s founder and leader at the time, Mohammed Yusuf. Boko Haram resurged in 2010 with Shekau as their new leader, and have been gaining force ever since, claiming miles of territory across Northern Nigeria and killing thousands of people in the process.

(source: BBC News)

So far this year

Boko Haram is a designated terrorist organization in the U.S. and many other Western nations As they gain force, Boko Haram’s attacks are becoming increasingly frequent and bloody, but as of yet they have not spread outside of West Africa. There have been a number of attacks in 2015 alone, and although the army and citizens are fighting back, Boko Haram isn’t slowing down.

Boko Haram seized the town of Baga, Nigeria and its military base on Jan. 3 of this year, and the next four days are now known as the Baga Massacre. The exact number of fatalities is unknown. A local told the international organization Human Rights Watch: “no one stayed back to count bodies.” The HRW published reports from local Nigerians that placed the death toll anywhere between a few hundred and over two thousand. They said sixteen towns were destroyed in the four days, and tens of thousands of people were displaced.

“It’s just terrifying, I don’t really know what else to say but that,” senior Carolyn Wassmer said. “It’s scary because they’re gaining, they’re becoming bigger and bigger.”

On Jan. 12 Boko Haram attacked a military camp in Kolofata, Northern Cameroon. Cameroon Radio Television said that 143 of the insurgents were killed by Cameroonian troops. Less than a week later, on Jan. 18, Boko Haram militants attacked two villages in Northern Cameroon, destroying houses and, according to The Guardian, kidnapping 80 people, over half of which were children.

The New York Times reported on Jan. 29 that Chadian troops had retaken Malam Fatori, a northern Nigerian town that had been under Boko Haram control since October. The next day, Reuters reported three Chadian soldiers and 120 Boko Haram militants were killed in a clash in Northern Cameroon.

In the early hours of Feb. 1 soldiers and local vigilantes in Maiduguri, the largest city of Nigeria’s northeast, repelled a massive Boko Haram attack. According to Defence Ministry spokesman Chris Olukolade, the attack was contained and the rebels suffered heavy casualties. Fotokal, a Cameroonian town on the border of Nigeria, was struck on Feb. 4. BBC News reported that Boko Haram broke into the homes of civilians and killed over 70 people.

The next Nigerian Election will be held this Saturday, Feb. 14. The current president Goodluck Jonathan will be seeking to be reelected for his second and final term. Dr. Rebecca Best, an Assistant Professor of Political Science at UMKC, explained that this is the first time that there has been serious opposition for the presidency since the democracy was established in 1999.

Best agrees with many experts that Boko Haram has only hurt Jonathan’s prospects. The divisions between the mainly Christian population of South Nigeria, who aren’t threatened by Boko Haram, and the Muslim North which is currently under attack, means that a candidate’s stance towards the terrorist group could have a huge effect on their voters.

“This doesn’t look good for Jonathan,” Best said. “One of his challengers is a Muslim from the Northern region of Nigeria, who might be more open to negotiation with Boko Haram. There’s no telling what might happen.”

Media coverage

At the beginning of January the world was grappling with the 17 deaths at the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris. But at the same time The Guardian reported over 2,000 deaths in Baga. Many journalists, as well as people on Twitter and other social networks have commented that, despite the similarities between the two attacks, there was distinctly less media coverage of the Nigerian massacre.

International Relations teacher David Muhammad was one of the people who noted the lack of attention.

“Typically, the people in Africa are forgotten,” he said. “I remember seeing the pictures [of the Baga attack] and thinking, where was this in the news?”

According to the Guardian and Washington Post, among other sources, this can be attributed to the fact that it is extremely hard to report from Northern Nigeria. Journalists have been targeted, base receivers have been destroyed to limit internet and cell phone use and fewer Western journalists work in the region.

Furthermore, The Guardian said there has been evidence of the Nigerian government trying to limit media attention so as to hide the violence in their country. They reported that President Jonathan expressed condolences to Paris but has said nothing about the Baga attacks.

“The Jonathan Administration, they don’t want to look vulnerable,” Best said. “If it looks to both the international and the domestic audience that the Jonathan Administration is vulnerable, one: Jonathan’s domestic political opponents begin to mobilize to try and replace him and two: any one who might be sympathetic to the cause of Boko Haram is encouraged to join up.”

However, many activists and journalists at publications such as The Guardian use the Baga/Paris situation to make a point of the hypocrisy of Western media. They say that the fact that so far Boko Haram has not directly threatened the U.S., and people are primarily concerned with their own national security, may mean that Western media simply doesn’t care.

“I think it’s because Paris such a major hub and America’s more involved with their economy and everything there,” Wassmer said. “A threat in Paris is a lot more threatening to America than one in Africa.”