Boko Haram, once a Salafist sect based in Nigeria’s northeast, has become something far more deadly and ruthless: a hydra-headed monster further complicated by imitators and criminal gangs who commit violence under the guise of the group, according to Mike Smith in his book Boko Haram: Inside Nigeria’s Unholy War. However, the lack of faith in both the government and the military has remained one of the most important reasons why the insurgency has not been stopped.
Boko Haram began around 2002 when the charismatic preacher Mohammed Yusuf attracted a following by denouncing the corruption and injustices of the Nigerian government, army and police. Yusuf, who believed that the earth is flat and that Western education is evil, was arrested in 2009 and killed in police custody following an uprising by his followers which had resulted in over 1,000 deaths. The group has since engaged in violent attacks against police, the military, schools, mosques, churches, government institutions and unarmed civilians.
Interestingly, the group’s current leader Abubakar Shekau appropriates the rhetoric of peace when describing one of the group’s main aims: “Seeking Allah’s help to establish Sharia so that Muslims will have peace to practise their religion.” After being named a “global terrorist” by the United States, requiring his assets there to be frozen, Shekau responded in a video message: “I know the United States exists, but… I don’t know where it is, not to talk of freezing my assets there.”
To understand the environment in which Boko Haram thrives, it is necessary to comprehend the extent of corruption and injustice in Nigerian society. The army typically responds to Boko Haram raids first by running away during an attack, then by returning in numbers to slaughter some people indiscriminately and burn down houses, on the conjecture that some of them might have assisted or supported boko Haram.
Today as I write this review, the newspaper has six full pages including the front page discussing terrorist attacks in France which have resulted in 17 deaths. There is a small article on page 18 describing a Boko Haram attack on the town of Baga which may have resulted in 2,000 deaths, with all of the houses burnt and destroyed. There are plenty of photos on the Internet of burnt houses and dead bodies from Baga, but they are from an attack by the Nigerian army almost 2 years ago when the army killed about 200 people and burnt down houses as revenge after Boko Haram fighters had ambushed some troops near Baga.
With global terrorism on the rise, it has become increasingly important for all members of society to gain some understanding of the causes of terrorism. While this book reassures us that Boko Haram is essentially a Nigerian problem rather than a global problem, it does give some insight into how heavy-handed official responses to terrorist acts serve to intensify the terrorists’ grievances, resulting in amplification rather than suppression of the problem.