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-Boko Haram recents attacks

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Boko Haram in Nigeria - the latest news from Al Jazeera

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The UNICEF reports that one in five "suicide bombers" used by Boko Haram has been a child. Find out more about Boko Haram attacks and their impact on Nigeria.

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Blood, fresh red blood,
Everyday i smell it.
Foul stench of humans,
Slaughtered like cattles,
And we accept it.
It's part of our lives now,
What can we do?
I hear men say.

Heads rolling,
They have been surprised by mean cutlasses,
Flesh of mortals blown to bits.
Bits of someone's beloved.
Tears of the bereaved claw the air,
The stink of death,
As each day churns out widows,
Each moment, the fatherless.

Up North is desolate,
Ethnic clashes turned to religious cleansing,
Men and women whose souls have become one with the soil,
But who were not given birth to by the soil,
Are denied the freedom to breathe the air of the land the
Called home.

Leaders turn blind eyes,
The man on the chief seat shakes a Weak head and trots off,
To spend the masses sweat.
We haven't remembered him yet.
The time would come when the
Poor will have no flesh to feed on
But our Leader's.

Boko! And men flee at the sound.
Lord let them not remember my
Dwelling,
A prayer of the poor,
But who are they?
Beasts!
And who are we?
Men?
I think not.

When death becomes inevitable,
Fear will lose strength,
Why fear what killeth?
If you fight or not?
But i will never dream the dreams
Of a coward.

Give me a gun,
Teach me to shower bullets on
The serial Beasts,
Who read Holy Books on mortals
They butcher.

I'll rather fight,
Than see the blood flow.
If i must,
Then i must.
And will break the dreaded curse,
The curse of Boko Haram.

Let my blood match their blood,
My anger, theirs,
My zeal for my country
With their zeal for madness.

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Boko Haram Poem by Melody Thaila Kuku - Poem Hunter

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Blood, fresh red blood, Everyday i smell it.Foul stench of humans, Slaughtered like cattles, And we accept it.It's part of our lives now, What can we do? I hear men say. Heads rolling, They have been surprised by mean cutlasses, Flesh of mortals blown to bits.Bits of someone's beloved.Tears of the bereaved claw the air, The stink of death, As each day churns out widows, Each moment, the fatherless.

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-leaders use tribal loyalty to advance personal gain
-tribal interest=lg part of civil unrest on continent
-lots of conflict between tribes
-leaders have to focus on tribal balance not economics
-

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Africa's democratic transition is back in the spotlight. The concern is no longer the stranglehold of autocrats, but the hijacking of the democratic process by tribal politics.

Kenya's 2007-08 post-election violence revealed the extent to which tribal forces could quickly bring a country to the brink of civil war.

The challenge to democracy in Africa is not the prevalence of ethnic diversity, but the use of identity politics to promote narrow tribal interests. It is tribalism.

There are those who argue that tribalism is a result of arbitrary post-colonial boundaries that force different communities to live within artificial borders.

This argument suggests that every ethnic community should have its own territory, which reinforces ethnic competition.

The last 20 years of Somalia have shown the dangers of ethnic competition and underscore the importance of building nations around ideas rather than clan identities.

Much attention over the last two decades has been devoted to removing autocrats and promoting multiparty politics.

But in the absence of efforts to build genuine political parties that compete on the basis of ideas, many African countries have reverted to tribal identities as foundations for political competition.

Leaders often exploit tribal loyalty to advance personal gain, parochial interests, patronage, and cronyism.

But tribes are not built on democratic ideas but thrive on zero-sum competition.

As a result, they are inimical to democratic advancement.

In essence, tribal practices are occupying a vacuum created by lack of strong democratic institutions.

Tribal interests have played a major role in armed conflict and civil unrest across the continent.

'Clever and calculating'

But the extent to which it blunts efforts to deepen democracy has received little attention. This is mainly because much of the attention has focused on elections.

According to US-based pro-democracy group Freedom House, 19 African countries were considered electoral democracies in 2012, down from 24 over the 2005-08 period.

These trends conceal the influence that tribal politics exerts on the democratic process.

It took Kenyan political parties nearly a decade to unite and defeat Daniel arap Moi's regime.

Leaders of the different opposition parties were primarily focused on pursuing their tribal interests rather than uniting around a common political programme.

They in effect played into the hands of the government in power that could divide them along tribal lines.

The opposition parties were unable to find common ground through coherent party manifestos.

According to research carried out on Kenya by Stephen Keverenge at the US-based Atlantic International University in 2008, 56% of 1,500 respondents did not know that their parties had manifestos.

The manifestos are generally issued late because much of the effort goes into building tribal alliances.

The new constitution of Kenya seeks to address the issue of ethnicity by ensuring that a president needs broad geographical support to be elected.

A winner must receive more than half of all the votes cast in the election and least 25% of the votes cast in each of more than half of the country's counties.

But tribal leaders are clever and calculating.

They are quick to dress in the latest fashion and co-opt emerging trends to preserve their identities.

They buy influence and create convenient alliances, shopping for international support in power centres such as London, Paris, and Washington DC.

Their sole mission is self-preservation, with the side effect of subverting democratic evolution.

For them tribal politics is a zero-sum game, so they are prone to using hate speech and inciting violence.

Intellectual input

The way forward for African democracy lies in concerted efforts to build modern political parties founded on development ideas and not tribal bonds.

Such political parties must base their competition for power on development platforms.

Defining party platforms will need to be supported by the search for ideas-not the appeal to tribal coalitions.

Political parties that create genuine development platforms will launch initiatives that reflect popular needs.

Those that rely on manipulating ethnic alliances will bring sectarian animosity into government business.

Whoever is elected as president will spend most of his or her time on tribal balancing rather than on economic management.

Party manifestos are fundamentally documents in which parties outline their principles and goals in a manner that goes beyond popular rhetoric.

They arise from careful discussion, compromise, and efforts to express the core values and commitments of the party.

Building clear party platforms requires effective intellectual input, usually provided through think-tanks and other research institutions.

Most African political parties lack such support and are generally manifestos cobbled together with little consultation.

Tribal groupings see themselves as infallible but parties have to be accountable to the people.

By stating a vision for the future, political parties provide voters with a ways to measure their performance.

Forging platforms fosters debate within parties that transcends tribal and religious differences.

'Road to doom'

Such debates are a central pillar of democracy.

Building modern political parties and associated think-tanks is, therefore, the most urgent way to counter tribal politics.

Policy debate is a key element of democracy.

Specific manifestos would foster healthy political competition that would force parties to distinguish themselves from each other.

Conversely, such debates would also help to illustrates areas of common interest.

Indeed, it is becoming clear that issues such as infrastructure - energy, transportation, irrigation, and telecommunication - and youth employment are emerging as common themes in African politics irrespective of ideological differences.

The predominance of such issues will select for pragmatic leadership over ideology.

It is therefore not a surprise that African countries are increasingly electing engineers as presidents.

In 2012 six African countries put engineers in top political offices.

This reflects the fact that at the local level, politics is primarily a long footnote on demands for power, transportation, irrigation, and communication.

Closely linked to these foundational concerns are demands for access to education and health.

Political parties are unlikely to differ on essential points, but they might offer different approaches.

So long as democracy offers the best chance for sustained growth and prosperity, tribal politics must be replaced by genuine party platforms and modern democratic institutions like think-tanks.

Otherwise Africa's road to doom will continue to be paved by tribal intentions.

Calestous Juma is professor of the practice of international development at Harvard Kennedy School and co-chairs the African Union's High Level Panel on Science, Technology and Innovation - @calestous on Twitter.

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Viewpoint: How tribalism stunts African democracy

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Africa's democratic transition is back in the spotlight. The concern is no longer the stranglehold of autocrats, but the hijacking of the democratic process by tribal politics. Kenya's 2007-08 post-election violence revealed the extent to which tribal forces could quickly bring a country to the brink of civil war.

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-companies in onshore delta areas, offshore and deep water areas
-max daily production is 2.5 million barrels today
-Africa's largest producer of oil
-6th largest producer in the world

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-In 2010, immigration rules had 145,000 words
since 2010 -230,000 words
total length 375,000 words
-1,300 changes were made in 2012 alone
-Colin Yeo said that “the rules are so precise” it has become essential to use a lawyer, forcing applicants to pay “astronomical” legal fees.

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Revealed: immigration rules in UK more than double in length

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Exclusive: 'Something of a disgrace,' says senior judge of visa system so complex as to be nearly impossible to navigate

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-translates to Western education is forbidden
-purpose is to institute Islamic/Sharia Law
-mainly inhabit N. Nigeria
-lots of attacks on churches and other "western" places
-take children and rape/train them
-Nigerian gov has been fighting back+ trying to get people back

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Here's a look at Boko Haram, a militant Islamic group working out of Nigeria, whose purpose is to institute Sharia, or Islamic law.

Facts

In the local Hausa dialect, Boko Haram means "Western education is forbidden."

The group also refers to itself as Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati Wal-Jihad, meaning "People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad."

Boko Haram militants mainly inhabit areas in the northern states of Nigeria, specifically Yobe, Kano, Bauchi, Borno and Kaduna.

Originally, Boko Haram was referred to locally as the Nigerian Taliban because of their religious similarities to the Taliban.

Boko Haram does not engage in Nigeria's political system out of an adherence to a fundamentalist form of Islam, which forbids participation unless the system is based on Sharia, or Islamic law.

Timeline

2002 - The group, which may have existed since the late 1990s, organizes under the Muslim cleric Mohammed Yusuf. It is centered in Maiduguri, the capital of the northeastern state of Borno.

December 2003 - The first known attack by Boko Haram includes roughly 200 militants, who attack multiple police stations in the state of Yobe, near the Niger border.

July 2009 - The Boko Haram uprising begins in Bauchi and spreads to the states of Borno, Kano and Yobe. The militant group kills scores of police officers. A joint military task force responds, leaving more than 700 Boko Haram members dead and its operational mosque destroyed. The uprising ends when police capture Yusuf. His deputy, Abubakar Shekau, reportedly dies in the uprising. Yusuf later dies in police custody. Police say he is shot during an attempted escape, but Boko Haram claims it is an extrajudicial execution.

July 2010 - Boko Haram releases a video statement in which Yusuf's deputy who allegedly died the previous year, Shekau, claims to be the leader of the group.

September 7, 2010 - In the state of Bauchi, 50 Boko Haram militants attack a prison, killing five people and releasing more than 700 inmates.

May 29, 2011 - The day of Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan's inauguration, Boko Haram detonates three IEDs near a military barracks in the city of Bauchi. At least 10 people die in the attack.

August 26, 2011 - Boko Haram attacks the United Nations compound in Abuja. A car bomb kills 23 people and injures more than 75 others.

November 4, 2011 - More than 100 people die in multiple attacks in Yobo, Damaturu and Borno states. Boko Haram militants utilize IEDs and vehicle-borne IEDs to target security forces and their offices, markets and 11 churches.

January 2012 - A newly formed splinter group, known as Ansaru, announces Abu Usmatul al-Ansari as its leader.

January 20, 2012 - More than 200 people are killed when Boko Haram launches coordinated attacks targeting police, military, a prison and other targets in the city of Kano in Kano State.

February 19, 2013 - Militants alleging to be Boko Haram kidnap a French family of seven in a national park in northern Cameroon; however, the affiliation with Boko Haram cannot be verified. The family is later released.

April 2013 - Jonathan states he has appointed a team to explore the possibility of amnesty for Islamist militants. Shekau responds in an audio statement: "Surprisingly the Nigerian government is talking about granting us amnesty. What wrong have we done? On the contrary, it is we that should grant you pardon."

April 19, 2013 - Boko Haram battles with multinational security forces from Niger, Nigeria and Chad in the city of Baga in Borno State, leaving nearly 200 people dead, including many civilians. Shekau releases a video in May saying Boko Haram is not responsible for the civilian deaths.

June 4, 2013 - Jonathan approves the proscription of Boko Haram and splinter group Ansaru as terrorist organizations.

June 2013 - Boko Haram targets churches in various states on three Sundays in a row, leaving more than 50 people dead.

August 14, 2013 - The Ministry of Defence announces the death of Boko Haram's second-in-command, Momodu Baba (known as Abu Saad).

August 19, 2013 - Nigeria's chief army spokesperson claims Shekau may have died after an attack on June 30, but the claim is never verified.

September 17, 2013 - Boko Haram gunmen dress in military uniforms and stage a fake checkpoint near Benisheik in Borno, burning vehicles and executing travelers, leaving at least 143 people dead.

September 25, 2013 - A man claiming to be Shekau appears in a video and says that he is alive and well. However, his identity is not verified.

November 13, 2013 - The US State Department adds Boko Haram and Ansaru to its list of terrorist organizations.

May 5, 2014 - In a video statement, a man claiming to be Shekau says, "I abducted your girls. I will sell them in the market, by Allah...there is a market for selling humans. Allah says I should sell. He commands me to sell. I will sell women. I sell women."

May 13, 2014 - Hundreds of Boko Haram militants storm three villages in the state of Borno. Villagers resist, killing more than 200 Boko Haram fighters.

May 20, 2014 - Twin blasts in the city of Jos kill 118 people at a market. Nigerian authorities describe the blasts as "terrorist activities" but decline to speculate on who might be responsible.

May 21, 2014 - The White House announces that the United States has sent 80 troops to Chad to help search for the kidnapped schoolgirls.

June 3-4, 2014 - Hundreds of people are killed in raids by Boko Haram militants in the state of Borno, with some sources putting the death toll at 400 to 500.

June 7-8, 2014 - Suspected Boko Haram militants kidnap at least 20 young women over a weekend in the northeastern Nigeria village of Garkin Fulani, eight kilometers from a town where more than 200 schoolgirls were taken nearly two months earlier.

June 18-22, 2014 - Boko Haram militants hold the village of Kummabza in Borno state hostage for four days. They abduct more than 60 females, including children, and kill 30 men in the raid.

July 7, 2014 - Sources say at least 57 girls kidnapped by Boko Haram last month from the Kummabza village have escaped from their captors and returned to their village. Boko Haram is still believed to be holding about 200 schoolgirls abducted April 14 from a boarding school in the town of Chibok.

July 17-20, 2014 - Boko Haram raids the Nigerian town of Damboa. By the time the raid ends, 66 residents have been killed and more than 15,000 have fled.

October 16, 2014 - The Nigerian government announces it has reached a ceasefire agreement with the Islamist terror group that includes the promised release of more than 200 kidnapped schoolgirls.

November 1, 2014 - In a video, the group's leader denies the Nigerian government's claim of a ceasefire.

January 3, 2015 - A multi-day raid begins, where hundreds of Boko Haram gunmen seize the town of Baga and neighboring villages in northern Nigeria, as well as a multinational military base, leaving bodies scattered everywhere and as many as 2,000 people feared dead.

March 2, 2015 - Boko Haram releases a video showing the apparent beheadings of two men they suspected of being spies.

March 7, 2015 - In an audio message purportedly from Shekau, Boko Haram pledges allegiance to ISIS, the Islamic militant group which controls areas of Iraq and Syria. The affiliate is named "Wilayat Gharb Afriqiyya" or "Wilayat Gharb Afriqiyyah," which means the Islamic State of West Africa.

April 25-26, 2015 - The decomposed corpses of at least 400 men, women and children are found in shallow, mass graves and on the streets of Damasak in northeastern Nigeria. Due to a joint Nigerian-Chadian military operation, the town has recently been freed of Boko Haram, which seized the town in November.

April 28-April 30, 2015 - Nigerian troops rescue about 450 women and girls in the Sambisa Forest during a military operation centered around destroying Boko Haram camps and rescuing civilians. According to the military, none of those rescued have been identified as the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped last April.

July 1, 2015 - Boko Haram militants raid three villages in the northeastern Nigerian state of Borno, killing at least 145 people, according to witnesses.

September 3, 2015 - An estimated 30 people are dead and 145 injured after Boko Haram militants attack a crowded market in Kerawa, Cameroon, and an infirmary near a Cameroonian military camp, according to Cameroonian military spokesman Col. Didier Badjeck.

September 23, 2015 - Two hundred forty-one women and children are rescued and 43 Boko Haram militants are arrested after the Nigerian military raids camps run by the terrorist group in two villages.

April 14, 2016 - CNN posts a video of some of the teenage girls abducted from Chibok that was sent to negotiators by their captors as a "proof of life."

May 17, 2016 - Amina Ali Nkeki, one of more than 200 kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls, is the first to be freed after two years in captivity. Nigeria's army says she was rescued by army troops, but a witness tells CNN the girl wandered out of the Sambisa Forest in the northeast of the country along with her child and a man.

August 3, 2016 - ISIS publication al-Naba says that Sheikh Abu Musab al-Barnawi is the new leader of Boko Haram. A Boko Haram insider confirms to CNN that Barnawi, the son of the group's founder - who was killed by Nigerian security forces in 2009 - is in fact the new leader.

August 14, 2016 - Boko Haram releases a video of some of the girls kidnapped in April 2014 and demands the release of Boko Haram fighters in exchange for the girls.

October 13, 2016 - Boko Haram militants hand over 21 Chibok schoolgirls to authorities after a series of negotiations with the Nigerian government. It's the first mass release of any of the more than 200 girls and women kidnapped from their school in April 2014.

November 5, 2016 - A Chibok schoolgirl carrying her 10-month-old son is found by the Nigerian army.

January 5, 2017 - The Nigerian army says another missing Chibok girl and her 6-month old baby have been located during an operation to arrest suspected Boko Haram terrorists.

January 17, 2017 - Scores of people are killed when a Nigerian fighter jet mistakenly bombs a camp for the internally displaced during an operation in Rann against Boko Haram militants, according to Nigerian officials and the Red Cross. The Nigerian government provides no official death toll, but humanitarian aid group Doctors Without Borders says "about 90" people died.

May 6, 2017 - Eighty-two Chibok schoolgirls are released after negotiations between Boko Haram and the Nigerian government.

February 19, 2018 - A faction of Boko Haram raids the Government Girls Science and Technical College in the northeast Nigerian town of Dapchi, kidnapping 110 students of the college.

February 19, 2018 - A Justice Ministry statement says that a Nigerian high court has convicted 205 Boko Haram suspects for their involvement with the insurgent group, and the suspects were sentenced to jail terms ranging from three to 60 years. The court also freed 526 suspects, including minors, for lack of evidence and ordered they be sent to their state governments for "proper rehabilitation."

May 7, 2018 - The Nigerian army says it has rescued more than 1,000 Boko Haram captives - mainly women and children, as well as some young men who had been forced to become Boko Haram fighters - in Borno state. The operation, which was conducted in conjunction with Cameroonian and Nigerian troops of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), rescued the hostages from Malamkari, Amchaka, Walasa and Gora villages of the Bama Local Government Area.

January 29, 2019 - The UN Refugee agency says escalating attacks by Boko Haram militants have forced 30,000 people out of Nigeria's northeast into Cameroonian borders over the weekend. The United Nations says more than 250,000 people have already been displaced from northeast Nigeria, and surging militant attacks targeting civilians have forced thousands more to run for their lives each day.

May 10, 2019 - UNICEF says 894 children, including 106 girls, who were recruited by the anti-Boko Haram militia Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) in northeast Nigeria, have been released. UNICEF says 1,727 children have been released since CJTF signed an action plan in 2017 to end child recruitment.

July 27, 2019 - A suspected attack by Boko Haram on a funeral gathering in northeastern Nigeria leaves at least 65 people dead. A local official says 21 people were initially killed during the burial ceremony, and an additional 44 people were killed when villagers ran after the assailants.

February 9, 2020 - At least 30 people, including a pregnant woman and a baby, die after suspected Boko Haram militants set fire on sleeping travelers in Borno state, Nigeria.

June 9, 2020 - At least 81 people are killed in an attack on a village by suspected Boko Haram militants in northeast Nigeria, the Borno state government said in a statement. Seven people, including the village head, children and women, are abducted.

January 28, 2021 - Some of the Chibok schoolgirls escape from their captors, the father of one of the girls tells CNN.

April 26, 2021 - Boko Haram fighters have reportedly hoisted the Islamist group's flag in a remote district in Niger State, Nigeria's Middle Belt region, and seized the wives of fleeing residents, the state's governor says in a widely circulated video. Niger State Governor Abubakar Bello discloses during a visit to an internally displaced persons camp in the state capital Minna, that over 3000 persons have been ousted from their communities by Boko Haram and other criminal gangs locally known as bandits.

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international relations and national security

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Here's a look at Boko Haram, a militant Islamic group working out of Nigeria, whose purpose is to institute Sharia, or Islamic law. In the local Hausa dialect, Boko Haram means "Western education is forbidden." The group also refers to itself as Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati Wal-Jihad, meaning "People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad."