CIAO DATE: 09/2012
July 2012
Norwegian Peacebuilding Resource Centre
Northern Nigeria is coping with a violent underground group, Boko Haram, that has been able to carry out attacks mainly in northern states, but also in Abuja by bombing the United Nations Nigerian headquarters. The targeting of prisons, barracks, security officers and politicians makes the lay population feel unsafe, since violence has become unpredictable. The state apparatus is so visibly challenged that it tends to overreact and actually kills even more civilians than Boko Haram does. Boko Haram has to be understood in different ways that draw different recommendations on the way to tackle the problems it presents. Firstly, it refers to the long history of the region and the recurrence of radical Islamic movements. Secondly, Boko Haram has deep roots in the social and economic marginalisation of a large section of the northern states’ population. A third understanding of Boko Haram emphasises the revenge dimension and questions the behaviour of the law enforcement agencies, their poor respect for the rule of law and the militarisation of any response to challenges to the central state. The fourth vision sees Boko Haram as a tool used by northern Nigerian elites to express their grievances against the lack of interest showed by the central state. Lastly, because of its developing connections with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and possibly al-Shabaab, Boko Haram is changing the scope of its grievances and providing the ground for a lasting confrontation between radicalised Muslims and others in Africa.
Resource link: Boko Haram and the resilience of militant Islam in northern Nigeria [PDF] - 142K