Boko Haram: from Local Grievances to Violent Insurgency
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
Violence in Nigeria's North West
Violence in Nigeria’s North West: Rolling Back the Mayhem Africa Report N°288 | 18 May 2020 Headquarters International Crisis Group Avenue Louise 235 • 1050 Brussels, Belgium Tel: +32 2 502 90 38 • Fax: +32 2 502 50 38 [email protected] Preventing War. Shaping Peace. Table of Contents Executive Summary ................................................................................................................... i I. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1 II. Community Conflicts, Criminal Gangs and Jihadists ...................................................... 5 A. Farmers and Vigilantes versus Herders and Bandits ................................................ 6 B. Criminal Violence ...................................................................................................... 9 C. Jihadist Violence ........................................................................................................ 11 III. Effects of Violence ............................................................................................................ 15 A. Humanitarian and Social Impact .............................................................................. 15 B. Economic Impact ....................................................................................................... 16 C. Impact on Overall National Security ......................................................................... 17 IV. ISWAP, the North West and -
Boko Haram Beyond the Headlines: Analyses of Africa’S Enduring Insurgency
Boko Haram Beyond the Headlines: Analyses of Africa’s Enduring Insurgency Editor: Jacob Zenn Boko Haram Beyond the Headlines: Analyses of Africa’s Enduring Insurgency Jacob Zenn (Editor) Abdulbasit Kassim Elizabeth Pearson Atta Barkindo Idayat Hassan Zacharias Pieri Omar Mahmoud Combating Terrorism Center at West Point United States Military Academy www.ctc.usma.edu The views expressed in this report are the authors’ and do not necessarily reflect those of the Combating Terrorism Center, United States Military Academy, Department of Defense, or U.S. Government. May 2018 Cover Photo: A group of Boko Haram fighters line up in this still taken from a propaganda video dated March 31, 2016. COMBATING TERRORISM CENTER ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Director The editor thanks colleagues at the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point (CTC), all of whom supported this endeavor by proposing the idea to carry out a LTC Bryan Price, Ph.D. report on Boko Haram and working with the editor and contributors to see the Deputy Director project to its rightful end. In this regard, I thank especially Brian Dodwell, Dan- iel Milton, Jason Warner, Kristina Hummel, and Larisa Baste, who all directly Brian Dodwell collaborated on the report. I also thank the two peer reviewers, Brandon Kend- hammer and Matthew Page, for their input and valuable feedback without which Research Director we could not have completed this project up to such a high standard. There were Dr. Daniel Milton numerous other leaders and experts at the CTC who assisted with this project behind-the-scenes, and I thank them, too. Distinguished Chair Most importantly, we would like to dedicate this volume to all those whose lives LTG (Ret) Dell Dailey have been afected by conflict and to those who have devoted their lives to seeking Class of 1987 Senior Fellow peace and justice. -
Lessons from Colombia for Curtailing the Boko Haram Insurgency in Nigeria
Lessons From Colombia For Curtailing The Boko Haram Insurgency In Nigeria BY AFEIKHENA JEROME igeria is a highly complex and ethnically diverse country, with over 400 ethnic groups. This diversity is played out in the way the country is bifurcated along the lines of reli- Ngion, language, culture, ethnicity and regional identity. The population of about 178.5 million people in 2014 is made up of Christians and Muslims in equal measures of about 50 percent each, but including many who embrace traditional religions as well. The country has continued to experience serious and violent ethno-communal conflicts since independence in 1960, including the bloody and deadly thirty month fratricidal Civil War (also known as the Nigerian-Biafran war, 1967-70) when the eastern region of Biafra declared its seces- sion and which claimed more than one million lives. The most prominent of these conflicts recently pitch Muslims against Christians in a dangerous convergence of religion, ethnicity and politics. The first and most dramatic eruption in a series of recent religious disturbances was the Maitatsine uprising in Kano in December 1980, in which about 4,177 died. While the exact number of conflicts in Nigeria is unknown, because of a lack of reliable sta- tistical data, it is estimated that about 40 percent of all conflicts have taken place since the coun- try’s return to civilian rule in 1999.1 The increasing wave of violent conflicts across Nigeria under the current democratic regime is no doubt partly a direct consequence of the activities of ethno- communal groups seeking self-determination in their “homelands,” and of their surrogate ethnic militias that have assumed prominence since the last quarter of 2000. -
Political Violence and War
Chapter 2 Political Violence and War In their respective conclusions to examinations of the literature on possible linkages between internal and external conflict, both Stohl (1980) and Levy (1989) decry the apparent lack of theory development as the main impediment to progress in our understanding and the accumulation of knowledge on this subject. Stohl goes on to claim that, The construction of an adequate theory of conflict linkages is dependent upon the reciprocal development of theories of political conflict and violence in general. As previously indicated, theorists of internal and external conflict have avoided consideration of conflict outside their particular focus when constructing their theories. The evidence we have reviewed...suggests that this has been an error and thus a hindrance to the development of conflict theory. (Stohl 1980, 326) It is, however, unusual within the political science discipline for scholars to lend much credence to such linkage and other macro-theoretical arguments. The skeletal structure lent to our global security affairs by the construction of modern political states demarcated by spatial borders and exclusive juridical domains provides a strong rationale for closure, compartmentalization, and specialization in scholarship. Yet, the idea of a nexus between internal and external conflict, and especially warfare, gains in both saliency and immediacy as the political borders separating the internal from the external become more permeable. It seems almost facetious to suggest that the key to an understanding of any nexus between internal and external political conflict should focus on the agency and structure of that which defines the distinction, that is on political borders themselves. -
Living Through Nigeria's Six-Year
“When We Can’t See the Enemy, Civilians Become the Enemy” Living Through Nigeria’s Six-Year Insurgency About the Report This report explores the experiences of civilians and armed actors living through the conflict in northeastern Nigeria. The ultimate goal is to better understand the gaps in protection from all sides, how civilians perceive security actors, and what communities expect from those who are supposed to protect them from harm. With this understanding, we analyze the structural impediments to protecting civilians, and propose practical—and locally informed—solutions to improve civilian protection and response to the harm caused by all armed actors in this conflict. About Center for Civilians in Conflict Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC) works to improve protection for civil- ians caught in conflicts around the world. We call on and advise international organizations, governments, militaries, and armed non-state actors to adopt and implement policies to prevent civilian harm. When civilians are harmed we advocate the provision of amends and post-harm assistance. We bring the voices of civilians themselves to those making decisions affecting their lives. The organization was founded as Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict in 2003 by Marla Ruzicka, a courageous humanitarian killed by a suicide bomber in 2005 while advocating for Iraqi families. T +1 202 558 6958 E [email protected] www.civiliansinconflict.org © 2015 Center for Civilians in Conflict “When We Can’t See the Enemy, Civilians Become the Enemy” Living Through Nigeria’s Six-Year Insurgency This report was authored by Kyle Dietrich, Senior Program Manager for Africa and Peacekeeping at CIVIC. -
Taxes, Institutions, and Governance: Evidence from Colonial Nigeria
Taxes, Institutions and Local Governance: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Colonial Nigeria Daniel Berger September 7, 2009 Abstract Can local colonial institutions continue to affect people's lives nearly 50 years after decolo- nization? Can meaningful differences in local institutions persist within a single set of national incentives? The literature on colonial legacies has largely focused on cross country comparisons between former French and British colonies, large-n cross sectional analysis using instrumental variables, or on case studies. I focus on the within-country governance effects of local insti- tutions to avoid the problems of endogeneity, missing variables, and unobserved heterogeneity common in the institutions literature. I show that different colonial tax institutions within Nigeria implemented by the British for reasons exogenous to local conditions led to different present day quality of governance. People living in areas where the colonial tax system required more bureaucratic capacity are much happier with their government, and receive more compe- tent government services, than people living in nearby areas where colonialism did not build bureaucratic capacity. Author's Note: I would like to thank David Laitin, Adam Przeworski, Shanker Satyanath and David Stasavage for their invaluable advice, as well as all the participants in the NYU predissertation seminar. All errors, of course, remain my own. Do local institutions matter? Can diverse local institutions persist within a single country or will they be driven to convergence? Do decisions about local government structure made by colonial governments a century ago matter today? This paper addresses these issues by looking at local institutions and local public goods provision in Nigeria. -
A Great and Sudden Change: the Global Political Violence Landscape Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic
A Great and Sudden Change: The Global Political Violence Landscape Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic acleddata.com/2020/08/04/a-great-and-sudden-change-the-global-political-violence-landscape-before-and-after-the- covid-19-pandemic/ August 4, 2020 In this special report, ACLED Research Analyst Melissa Pavlik reviews key findings from 16 weeks of data recorded by our COVID-19 Disorder Tracker, highlighting the most significant changes to global political violence and demonstrations trends since the onset of the pandemic. Introduction The coronavirus pandemic has brought at least half of the world under lockdown ( New York Times, 3 April 2020), and killed — at the time of writing — over half a million people (Johns Hopkins University, 31 July 2020). As humanity struggles against this deadly threat, the virus has transformed political priorities and behavior across the globe. Political conflict is a function of politics: as politics shift, so too do political violence patterns. The end of June marked 16 weeks since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic (WHO, 11 March 2020). Since March, the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) has monitored resulting shifts in political violence and protest patterns around the globe through the COVID-19 Disorder Tracker (CDT). The project has documented varying responses across countries and contexts. In some places, reactionary populist leaders refused to take the virus seriously, preferring to perform politics as usual against a backdrop of the rising death toll. In others, power shifted between the people and the state, with the pandemic bringing a halt to mass protest movements and increasing the opportunity for government repression (Foreign Policy, 21 July 2020). -
Jihadism in Africa Local Causes, Regional Expansion, International Alliances
SWP Research Paper Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik German Institute for International and Security Affairs Guido Steinberg and Annette Weber (Eds.) Jihadism in Africa Local Causes, Regional Expansion, International Alliances RP 5 June 2015 Berlin All rights reserved. © Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, 2015 SWP Research Papers are peer reviewed by senior researchers and the execu- tive board of the Institute. They express exclusively the personal views of the authors. SWP Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik German Institute for International and Security Affairs Ludwigkirchplatz 34 10719 Berlin Germany Phone +49 30 880 07-0 Fax +49 30 880 07-100 www.swp-berlin.org [email protected] ISSN 1863-1053 Translation by Meredith Dale (Updated English version of SWP-Studie 7/2015) Table of Contents 5 Problems and Recommendations 7 Jihadism in Africa: An Introduction Guido Steinberg and Annette Weber 13 Al-Shabaab: Youth without God Annette Weber 31 Libya: A Jihadist Growth Market Wolfram Lacher 51 Going “Glocal”: Jihadism in Algeria and Tunisia Isabelle Werenfels 69 Spreading Local Roots: AQIM and Its Offshoots in the Sahara Wolfram Lacher and Guido Steinberg 85 Boko Haram: Threat to Nigeria and Its Northern Neighbours Moritz Hütte, Guido Steinberg and Annette Weber 99 Conclusions and Recommendations Guido Steinberg and Annette Weber 103 Appendix 103 Abbreviations 104 The Authors Problems and Recommendations Jihadism in Africa: Local Causes, Regional Expansion, International Alliances The transnational terrorism of the twenty-first century feeds on local and regional conflicts, without which most terrorist groups would never have appeared in the first place. That is the case in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Syria and Iraq, as well as in North and West Africa and the Horn of Africa. -
Female Suicide Bombers in Boko Haram Insurgency: Victims Or Perpetrators?
International Journal of World Policy and Development Studies ISSN(e): 2415-2331, ISSN(p): 2415-5241 Vol. 6, Issue. 2, pp: 11-18, 2020 Academic Research Publishing URL: https://arpgweb.com/journal/journal/11 Group DOI: https://doi.org/10.32861/ijwpds.62.11.18 Original Research Open Access Female Suicide Bombers in Boko Haram Insurgency: Victims or Perpetrators? James E. Archibong Article History Received: January 5, 2020 Department of Jurisprudence and International Law, Faculty of Law, University of Calabar, Nigeria Revised: January 30, 2020 Email: [email protected] Accepted: February 6, 2020 Published: February 8, 2020 Copyright © 2020 ARPG & Author This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International CC BY: Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 Abstract The increasing involvement of women in the advancement of insurgency in Nigeria has become a thing of great worry. The question often asked is as to whether their involvement is induced or free-willed. The concept of consent is on different layers and one would imagine the extent of consent given before they become members of the sect or culprits. The different ways women have been used to perpetrate the activities of Boko Haram ranges from threats to abuse, Indoctrination to hypnotism and many others. Due to the subtle and unsuspecting nature of women, they form a good strategy for members of the sect. However, their involvement is not evidence against them as they face situations that almost deny them the opportunity to choose whether or not to subscribe to the forceful approach used by Boko Haram insurgents!. Keywords: Boko haram; Women; Suicide bombing; Terrorism; Nigeria. -
Nigeria Update to the IMB Nigeria
Progress in Polio Eradication Initiative in Nigeria: Challenges and Mitigation Strategies 16th Independent Monitoring Board Meeting 1 November 2017 London 0 Outline 1. Epidemiology 2. Challenges and Mitigation strategies SIAs Surveillance Routine Immunization 3. Summary and way forward 1 Epidemiology 2 Polio Viruses in Nigeria, 2015-2017 Past 24 months Past 12 months 3 Nigeria has gone 13 months without Wild Polio Virus and 11 months without cVDPV2 13 months without WPV 11 months – cVDPV2 4 Challenges and Mitigation strategies 5 SIAs 6 Before the onset of the Wild Polio Virus Outbreak in July 2016, there were several unreached settlements in Borno Borno Accessibility Status by Ward, March 2016 # of Wards in % Partially LGAs % Fully Accessible % Inaccessible LGA Accessible Abadam 10 0% 0% 100% Askira-Uba 13 100% 0% 0% Bama 14 14% 0% 86% Bayo 10 100% 0% 0% Biu 11 91% 9% 0% Chibok 11 100% 0% 0% Damboa 10 20% 0% 80% Dikwa 10 10% 0% 90% Gubio 10 50% 10% 40% Guzamala 10 0% 0% 100% Gwoza 13 8% 8% 85% Hawul 12 83% 17% 0% Jere 12 50% 50% 0% Kaga 15 0% 7% 93% Kala-Balge 10 0% 0% 100% Konduga 11 0% 64% 36% Kukawa 10 20% 0% 80% Kwaya Kusar 10 100% 0% 0% Mafa 12 8% 0% 92% Magumeri 13 100% 0% 0% Maiduguri 15 100% 0% 0% Marte 13 0% 0% 100% Mobbar 10 0% 0% 100% Monguno 12 8% 0% 92% Ngala 11 0% 0% 100% Nganzai 12 17% 0% 83% Shani 11 100% 0% 0% State 311 41% 6% 53% 7 Source: Borno EOC Data team analysis Four Strategies were deployed to expand polio vaccination reach and increase population immunity in Borno state SIAs RES2 RIC4 Special interventions 12 -
Chibok Girls/ #Bringbackourgirls/ Stolen
TRANSFORMING FEMALE ABDUCTION VICTIMS TO MENTORS USING SURVIVOR CENTERED APPROACH: DISCUSSING "CHIBOK GIRLS/ #BRINGBACKOURGIRLS/ STOLEN DAUGHTERS" AS A CASE STUDY by ENEKOLE ATABO A THESIS Presented to the Conflict and Dispute Resolution Program and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science June 2019 THESIS APPROVAL PAGE Student: Enekole Atabo Title: Transforming Female Abduction Victims to Mentors using Survivor Centered Approach: Discussing "Chibok Girls/ #BringBackOurGirls/ Stolen Daughters" as a case study This thesis has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Science degree in the Conflict and Dispute Resolution Program by: Prof. Merle Weiner Chairperson Prof. Ibrahim Gassama Member Dr. Christina O’Bryan Member and Janet Woodruff-Borden Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School Original approval signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Graduate School. Degree awarded June 2019 ii © 2019 Enekole Atabo iii THESIS ABSTRACT Enekole Atabo Master of Science Conflict and Dispute Resolution June 2019 Title: Transforming Female Abduction Victims to Mentors using Survivor Centered Approach: Discussing "Chibok Girls/ #BringBackOurGirls/ Stolen Daughters" as a case study Generally, women and girls are discriminated against based on gender, education, religion, or culture. Some of these characteristics are either ascribed or achieved. Life chances or the ability to improve one’s quality of life depends on the intersectionality of the different forms of oppression. Education which is one important means to improve life chances has often been targeted by religious and cultural ideology to the extent that girls are severely punished for defying restrictions on women’s education. -
Nigeria's Boko Haram
Nigeria’s Boko Haram: Frequently Asked Questions Lauren Ploch Blanchard Specialist in African Affairs March 29, 2016 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov R43558 Nigeria’s Boko Haram: Frequently Asked Questions Summary Boko Haram, a violent Nigerian Islamist movement, has grown increasingly active and deadly in its attacks against state and civilian targets in recent years, drawing on a narrative of victimization and vengeance for state abuses to elicit recruits and sympathizers. The group’s April 2014 abduction of almost 300 schoolgirls drew particular international attention, including from the Obama Administration and Members of Congress. Its high death toll and its pledge of allegiance to the Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIL or ISIS) in March 2015 have further raised the concern of U.S. policy makers. The group has sought to rebrand itself as the Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP), though it remains more popularly known by its original nickname. The State Department has named several individuals linked to Boko Haram, including its leader, Abubakar Shekau, as Specially Designated Global Terrorists, and the group was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) by the State Department in November 2013. More than 15,000 people are estimated to have been killed by Boko Haram, including more than 6,000 in 2015 alone, making it one of world’s deadliest terrorist groups. By U.N. estimates, roughly 2.8 million people have been displaced by Boko Haram-related violence in the Lake Chad Basin region, where approximately 5.6 million are in need of emergency food aid.