Boko Haram: Between Myth and Reality


Book Description

This book about Nigeria and the nightmare it is currently facing was written by two people. One of them lives in Nigeria and the other lives in the US. The Nigerian writer lives in northern Nigeria so he/she cannot dare use his /her real name. These two writers have chosen to break the silence, risk their own safety, and tell the story of the power of Boko Haram. In the core Muslim states of Nigeria, opinions are deeply divided about Boko Haram. Some Muslim northerners have a grudging admiration for Boko Haram. To this group of people, the BH sect is a perfect solution to the scandalous corruption and maladministration afflicting the land. Another group in the Muslim north sees BH as a disgrace to Islam. This group believes that the members of BH are renegades who have gone against the teachings of the prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The way this group sees it, the BH members are giving Islam a bad name because they are killing fellow Muslims and they are contributing to the poverty and lack of meaningful development in the north. Is Boko Haram committed to the teachings of the prophet Muhammad (PBUH) or is it an organization of renegades? Do these people have a mission or are they just misguided religious extremists? Does Boko Haram have connections to Al Queda and Al Shabab in Sudan? Can they actually win the battle against Nigerian security forces or will they be wiped out by the state? These questions and many more need to be answered. This is why the writers have chosen to speak out and publish this book. There is a message here for the other Muslims living in northern Nigeria. The good Muslims in Nigeria and other parts of the world can help by resisting those who are bent on demonizing Islam. Speak out, expose these bad people and the world will be a much better place for us all.




The Impact of Boko Haram on Church and Society in Nigeria


Book Description

Essay from the year 2015 in the subject Theology - Practical Theology, grade: B+, , language: English, abstract: The activities of the Boko Haram sects in Nigeria have negatively affected the Nigerian society. The socio-economic, political and religious aspects of the Nigerian society have a lot due to the activities of the Boko Haram sects especially in the northern parts of Nigeria. The Bishop of Kaduna Diocese of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Reverend Josiah Idowu-Fearon, observed that violence and insurgency has destroyed the economic, social and religious lives of the people of Kaduna State. This can also be said of all the Boko Haram stricken states in northern Nigeria. He pointed out that "The entire North-east of the country, Jos and Kano are almost completely isolated economically, socially and politically..." This essay outlines and discusses some of the impacts of the Boko Haram sects on both the Church and the society in Nigeria.




Boko Haram and the War on Terror


Book Description

A comprehensive analysis of the rise of Boko Haram from a small religious cult to a major terrorist group, placing them within the context of Nigerian politics and the international War on Terror. In 2009, Nigerian security forces stormed a religious cult by the name of Boko Haram, killing its leader and thousands of followers. Six years later, Boko Haram is an enemy to reckon with, boasting 15,000 members and taking credit for 20,000 deaths. This book looks at the successful rise of this terrorist group, probing the religious and political environment that enabled a relatively small cult to threaten a nation. The study draws on the author's fieldwork in Nigeria, where she had access to officials, activists, psychologists, and military personnel. Written in a clear and accessible manner, it offers a micro-to-macro investigation of the Boko Haram as a phenomenon. It also provides readers with an understanding of the regional dynamics that obstructed political and military cooperation among neighboring countries, enabling Boko Haram's success. This book traces the group's religious origins in the early 2000s and documents its violent political claims in Nigeria and across the border in Northern Cameroon, Niger, and Chad. Finally, it examines the impact of the international War on Terror and presents a comparative study of other contemporary terrorism movements and their networks.




Boko Haram


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Overcoming Boko Haram


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No description available.




Understanding Boko Haram


Book Description

The primary objective of this book is to understand the nature of the Boko Haram insurgency in northeast Nigeria. Boko Haram’s goal of an Islamic Caliphate, starting in the Borno State in the North East that will eventually cover the areas of the former Kanem-Borno Empire, is a rejection of the modern state system forced on it by the West. The central theme of this volume examines the relationship between the failure of the state-building project in Nigeria and the outbreak and nature of insurgency. At the heart of the Boko Haram phenomenon is a country racked with cleavages, making it hard for Nigeria to cohere as a modern state. Part I introduces this theme and places the Boko Haram insurgency in a historical context. There are, however, multiple cleavages in Nigeria ̶ ethnic, regional, cultural, and religious ̶ and Part II examines the different state-society dynamics fuelling the conflict. Political grievances are common to every society; however, what gives Boko Haram the space to express such grievances through violence? Importantly, this volume demonstrates that the insurgency is, in fact, a reflection of the hollowness within Nigeria’s overall security. Part III looks at the responses to Boko Haram by Nigeria, neighbouring states, and external actors. For Western actors, Boko Haram is seen as part of the "global war on terror" and the fact that it has pledged allegiance to ISIS encourages this framing. However, as the chapters here discuss, this is an over-simplification of Boko Haram and the West needs to address the multiple dimension of Boko Haram. This book will be of much interest to students of terrorism and political violence, insurgencies, African politics, war and conflict studies, and IR in general.




Perspectives of Reality


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Boko Haram


Book Description

An insurgency in Nigeria by the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram has left thousands dead, shaken Africa's biggest country and worried the world. Yet it remains a mysterious - almost unknowable - organisation. rough exhaustive on-the-ground reporting, Mike Smith takes readers inside the conflict and provides the first in-depth account of the violence and unrest. He traces Boko Haram from its beginnings as a small Islamist sect in Nigeria's remote north-east, led by a baby-faced but charismatic preacher, to its transformation into a hydra-headed entity, deploying suicide bombers and abducting schoolgirls. Much of the book is told through the eyes of Nigerians who have found themselves caught between frightening insurgents and security forces accused of horrifying brutality. It includes the voices of a forgotten police officer left paralysed by an attack, women whose husbands have been murdered and a sword-wielding vigilante using charms to fend of insurgent bullets. It journeys through the sleaze and corruption that has robbed Africa's biggest oil producer of its potential, making it such fertile ground for extremism.Along the way it questions whether there can be any end to the violence and the ways in which this might be achieved. Interspersed with history, this book delves into the roots of this unholy war being waged by a virtually unknown organisation, which is set to shape the destiny of Africa's biggest economy and most populous state - and perhaps affect the future of Africa.




The Boko Haram Reader


Book Description

Since it erupted onto the world stage in 2009, people have asked, what is Boko Haram, and what does it stand for? Is there a coherent vision or set of beliefs behind it? Despite the growing literature about the group, few if any attempts have been made to answer these questions, even though Boko Haram is but the latest in a long line of millenarian Muslim reform groups to emerge in Northern Nigeria over the last two centuries. The Boko Haram Reader offers an unprecedented collection of essential texts, documents, videos, audio, and nashids (martial hymns), translated into English from Hausa, Arabic and Kanuri, tracing the group's origins, history, and evolution. Its editors, two Nigerian scholars, reveal how Boko Haram's leaders manipulate Islamic theology for the legitimisation, radicalization, indoctrination and dissemination of their ideas across West Africa. Mandatory reading for anyone wishing to grasp the underpinnings of Boko Haram's insurgency, particularly how the group strives to delegitimize its rivals and establish its beliefs as a dominant strand of Islamic thought in West Africa's religious marketplace.




Boko Haram’s Terrorism and the Nigerian State


Book Description

This book assesses the effectiveness of Nigeria’s counterterrorist policies against Boko Haram. It takes a critical review of the interventionist strategies adopted by the Nigerian government, highlights the motivations behind the choice of strategies, and proffers a deeper understanding of the factors responsible for the state’s inability, thus far, to rid the country of terrorism. Specifically, it evaluates the NACTEST policy framework that guides the Nigerian state’s counterterrorist strategies, which contains both hard and soft power approaches. Adopting historical and case study approaches which put the Nigerian state and occurrences of violent conflict in context, it takes cognizance of the politics of ethno-religious diversity which reinforce violent conflicts among groups and against the state, and reviews the socio-economic and political realities that led to the emergence and sustenance of Boko Haram. The volume concludes by suggesting practical policy options for combating Boko Haram and other similar armed insurrection. This book is appropriate for researchers and students interested in African politics, conflict, security, peace studies, terrorism, and counterterrorism, as well as policy makers and government departments dealing with terrorism and counterterrorism.