Boko Haram is Nigeria’s biggest Islamist group. But who are they?
They were founded in 2002 by Mohammed Yusuf, a cleric who had set up a religious centre
in the northern city of Maiduguri.
Boko Haram means “western education is forbidden”, although the group’s official name means
People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet’s Teachings and Jihad.
At first they were nonviolent and even seen as an alternative to the government in northern Nigeria.
Education is very low, poverty is very high, unemployment is very high, so Boko Haram seemed
to be offering them an alternative to that.
Their leaders would distribute money and alms and help pay hospital bills, that kind of
thing, initially. So they did have popular support.
But in 2009, they staged attacks on government buildings in Maiduguri.
The response from the government caused thousands of people to flee and hundreds of Boko Haram
supporters were killed.
Mohammed Yusuf was also killed in police custody and his group was declared dead and buried.
So why are they still going strong?
The declaration was premature and a new leader, Abubakar Shekau, rose to the top of the pile
and Boko Haram upped the violence.
They graduated from crude attacks with homemade bombs being thrown into beer parlours, that
kind of thing, to the sort of large scale abductions and attacks that we're seeing today.
So, they've been really radicalised, Shekau is very hardline.
They've become a completely different group to what they started off as.
They also hit a number of religious buildings, including churches, as well as their biggest
international target - the UN headquarters in the capital of Abuja.
The violence continued to escalate and by May 2013, the militants controlled much of
their home state of Borno.
The federal government will not rest until the perpetrators of these acts are brought to book.
President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency and initially the army achieved some success.
Boko Haram, who largely operate in three states in the north, were forced out of their urban strongholds.
But the attacks carried on - particularly on schools offering a western education.
In March and April 2014 they raided two boarding schools in Yobe and Chibok, kidnapping hundreds
of girls.
Like millions of people across the globe, my husband and I are outraged and heartbroken.
The world got angry for a minute or two using the hashtag, bring back our girls
But then most of the world and the media moved on to another crisis somewhere else.
Boko Haram appear to be well-funded, and claim to be part of a wider radical movement
and it seems that Abubakar Shekau has been trying to raise his standing in that movement with
videos like this, praising the Charlie Hebdo attacks.
Abubakar Shekau, the leader of Boko Haram, has several times said that he receives support
and funding from al Qaeda. It seems that they are connected into this jihadist movement.
How seriously? It's really difficult to verify that.
Nigeria ranked 136th on Transparency International’s corruption perceptions index and resources
that should have helped fight Boko Haram have been siphoned off and disappeared.
Instead the Nigerian army is under-resourced, poorly paid and over-stretched
and the militants have thrived.
Recently, Boko Haram’s forces have overrun military bases and attacks have spread into
northern Cameroon.
One point six million Nigerians have been displaced and thousands have been killed,
including the recent massacre of 2,000 people in Baga, as Boko Haram attempts to carve out
its own Islamic Caliphate in west Africa.