Tackling global extremism: the case of Boko Haram

"Boko Haram’s goal is to establish an Islamic state in northern Nigeria. In doing so, it has committed numerous atrocities, ranging from kidnapping and enslaving girls to carrying out scorched-earth policies and sporadic killings in local communities.

Boko Haram is now losing territory in northern Nigeria, leading it to seek safe haven in neighbouring states. That has led to an upsurge of violence in the wider Lake Chad region.

It appears that endogenous and exogenous factors have caused the group to splinter into three broad factions. One branch is led by Abubakar Shekau, who took over the group after the death of Mohammed Yusuf in 2009. The other key faction is now known as ‘Islamic State West Africa Province’, which pledges allegiance to Islamic State and also operates in Niger, Chad and Cameroon. Since August 2016 it has been led by Abu Musab al-Barnawi, Mohammed Yusuf’s second son. A third faction, about which little is known, is led by the Cameroon-born Mamman Nur, who is suspected to have connections to al-Shabab and al-Qaeda of the Islamic Maghreb."