ecoi.net feautured topic on Nigeria: Boko Haram

Note:  English version below
 

Die ecoi.net-Themendossiers bieten einen Überblick zu einem ausgewählten Thema. Das Themendossier Nigeria behandelt die Gruppe Boko Haram und mit ihr zusammenhängende Ereignisse seit Juni 2012. Alle verwendeten Informationen stammen aus Quellen, die auf ecoi.net verfügbar sind.
 

Archivversion - letzte Aktualisierung: 29. April 2013. Aktualisierte Fassungen dieses Themendossiers finden Sie auf der entsprechenden Länderseite von ecoi.net.
 
RAHMENINFORMATIONEN

Die Boko Haram (“Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati Wal-Jihad”) ist laut dem US-Außenministerium (USDOS) eine extremistische Sekte, die das Ziel verfolgt, die nigerianische Regierung zu stürzen und landesweit eine strengere Form der Scharia einzuführen (USDOS, 30. Juli 2012). Die Anschläge der Boko Haram auf Regierungsinstitutionen, die Vereinten Nationen und Kirchen drohen das Land zu destabilisieren. Die Ursprünge der Gruppe, ihre Motive und zukünftige Pläne sind weiterhin Gegenstand von Diskussionen (USIP, Juni 2012, S. 1). Laut dem CRS ist die Boko Haram Anfang der 2000er-Jahre als eine kleine radikale sunnitisch-islamische Sekte aufgetaucht, die für eine strenge Interpretation und Umsetzung des islamischen Rechts in Nigeria eingetreten ist (CRS, 18. Juli 2012, S. 13). Laut einem Artikel der AFP hat die Gruppe ihre Forderungen jedoch mehrmals geändert. Es wird vermutet, dass die Boko Haram aus mehreren Fraktionen mit verschiedenen Zielen besteht. Nachahmer und kriminelle Banden sollen unter dem Deckmantel der Boko Haram ebenfalls Gewalt ausgeübt haben (AFP, 3. Oktober 2012).
Mehrere Einzelpersonen haben in der Vergangenheit behauptet, im Namen der Gruppe zu sprechen. Dies wurde von der Boko Haram jedoch zurückgewiesen (IRIN, 28. November 2012).
 
Im Jahr 2002 hat ein Teil einer radikal-islamischen Jugendgruppe der Moschee „Muhammadu Ndimi“ – damals noch nicht unter dem Namen Boko Haram bekannt - die Stadt Maiduguri und das islamische Establishment als korrupt und unverbesserlich erklärt. Im Dezember 2003 ist die Gruppe nach Streitigkeiten über örtliche Fischereirechte mit der Polizei in Konflikt geraten. Mitglieder der Gruppe haben Polizisten überwältigt und ihnen die Waffen abgenommen. Diese Konfrontation führte zu einer Belagerung der Ndimi-Moschee durch die Armee und einer darauf folgenden Schießerei, bei der der Großteil der 70 Mitglieder der Gruppe getötet wurde. Die Überlebenden Mitglieder sind nach Maiduguri zurückgekehrt und haben unter ihrem Anführer, Mohammed Yusuf, eine eigene Moschee gegründet. (USIP, Juni 2012, S. 1)
 
Vor den Präsidentschaftswahlen im Jahr 2007 ist ein Prediger der Ndimi-Moschee, Sheikh Ja’afar Mahmoud Adam, ermordet worden, nachdem er begonnen hatte, die Gruppe aufgrund ihrer kompromisslosen Ideologie zu kritisieren. Die Ermordung soll auf Befehl Mohammed Yusufs erfolgt sein und wird von einigen als Kernpunkt der Entstehung von Boko Haram gesehen (USIP, Juni 2012, S. 4). Beim Versuch Angriffe der Boko Haram auf Polizeistationen und Regierungsgebäude im Juli 2009 zu beenden, wurden mindestens 700 Menschen getötet (CRS, 18. Juli 2012, S. 14). Die Polizei hatte die Moschee der Gruppe in Maiduguri umstellt und eine blutige „Säuberungsaktion“ gegen mutmaßliche Unterstützer oder Sympathisanten der Boko Haram durchgeführt. Mohammed Yusuf wurde verhaftet und von der Polizei getötet (USIP, Juni 2012, S. 4).
 
Nach dem Tod von Yusuf hat die Boko Haram rasch an Stärke und Einfluss gewonnen und hat im Jahr 2010 einen Gefängnisausbruch und groß angelegte Anschläge im Jahr 2011 und Anfang 2012 durchgeführt. Unter ihrem neuen Anführer, Abubakar Mohammed Shekau, verfolgt die Gruppe eine Strategie von spektakulären Anschlägen. (Oxford Research Group, 30. April 2012)
 
Die Boko Haram setzt unkonventionelle Spreng- und Brandvorrichtungen, Autobomben und Selbstmordattentäter ein. Neben Polizeistationen hat sie auch ZivilistInnen in Schulen, Kirchen, Märkte und Bierhallen zum Ziel. Die Gruppe führt möglicherweise zu ihrer Finanzierung Banküberfälle durch. (CRS, 18. Juli 2012, S. 14)
 
Das Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS) berichtet, dass wenig über die aktuellen Anführer und Mitglieder der Boko Haram bekannt ist. Besonders in den Bundesstaaten Borno, Yobe, Gombe und Bauchi genießt die Gruppe einen gewissen Grad an Unterstützung. Laut Experten soll die Gruppe über wenige Hundert aktive Kämpfer verfügen. Einige Tausend Unterstützer sollen in unterschiedlichem Ausmaß in der Gruppe mitwirken. Obwohl Abubakar Shekau die Führung der Gruppe abgesichert hat, setzt sich die Organisation aus verschiedenen Akteuren, wie militanten Islamisten, unzufriedenen Zivilisten, opportunistischen Kriminellen und Hooligans zusammen – darunter einige, die von Politikern im Interesse einer politischen Agenda gefördert werden (ACSS, April 2012, S. 5). IRIN zitiert in einem Artikel einen Politikexperten, der vermutet, dass es innerhalb der Boko Haram eine traditionelle Strömung – geführt von Shekau – gebe, jedoch würden innerhalb der Gruppe auch Strömungen aufkommen, die von der Unsicherheit im Land profitieren wollen (IRIN, 16. Juli 2012). Die Boko Haram bleibt weitgehend im Untergrund und es ist nur wenig über ihre Führungs- und organisatorischen Strukturen bekannt. Stellungnahmen der Gruppe sind von den „offiziellen“ Sprechern unter den Pseudonymen “Abu Zaid” und “Abu Qaqa” abgegeben worden. Im Jänner 2012 hat Präsident Goodluck Jonathan davor gewarnt, dass Sympathisanten der Boko Haram auf allen Regierungsebenen präsent sind (HRW, 11. Oktober 2012, S. 37).
 
Im Jänner 2012 entstand eine abweichende Fraktion unter dem Namen „Jama’atu Ansaril Muslimina fi Biladis Sudan“ (Führung zum Schutz der Muslime in Schwarzafrika) oder „Ansaru“, die Shekaus Führungsrolle zurückweist. Die neue Bewegung koordiniert ihre Aktivitäten offensichtlich mit der „al-Qaida im islamischen Maghreb“ (AQIM) und der „Bewegung für Einheit und Dschihad in Westafrika“ (MUJWA). Laut Medienberichten ist das Entstehen von Ansaru eine Reaktion auf den „Verlust unschuldiger muslimischer Leben“. Trotz Differenzen mit der Boko Haram behauptet Ansaru, wie „al-Qaida und die Taliban“ zu sein. Die beiden Gruppen würden die gleichen Ziele verfolgen und am selben Kampf teilnehmen, jedoch mit anderen Anführern. Der Anführer von Ansaru ist laut Angaben der Gruppe Abu Usmatul al-Ansari und ihr Sprecher ist Abu Jafa’ar. (Jamestown Foundation, 10. Jänner 2013)
 
Laut US-Beamten gibt es möglicherweise bezüglich finanziellen Mitteln, Ausbildung und Materialien zur Sprengstoffherstellung eine Verbindung zur al-Qaida im islamischen Maghreb (AQIM) und der somalischen al-Shabaab (BBC, 6. Juli 2012). Laut einem Bericht des Central Asia-Caucasus Institute (CACI) bildet die AQIM Kämpfer der Boko Haram aus und stellte der Gruppe 250.000 US-Dollar zur Verfügung, um „weißhäutige“ Ausländer zu entführen. Bei Übergabe der Geiseln an die AQIM erhalte die Boko Haram Waffen und Munition (CACI, 27. Juni 2012).
 
Das Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN) erwähnt in einem Artikel, dass die Sicherheitskräfte nach Angriffen der Boko Haram Vergeltungsmaßnahmen wie willkürliche Verhaftungen, Misshandlung in Haft, Bestrafung der Gemeinde und außergerichtliche Tötungen durchführen. (IRIN, 29. November 2012)
 
 
ÜBERBLICK

 
Seit 2010 sind bei Anschlägen der Boko Haram über 1.400 Menschen im Norden Nigerias und der Landesmitte getötet worden (HRW, 8. August 2012). Mitte des Jahres 2010 hat die Boko Haram bei ihrer Rückkehr nach Maiduguri eine Attentatsserie auf Polizeistellungen in den Bundesstaaten Borno und Yobe begonnen (USIP, Juni 2012, S. 5). Im Jahr 2011 ist die Boko Haram für viele Anschläge in den Bundesstaaten Borno, Yobe, Bauchi, Gombe, Plateau und Kaduna sowie im Federal Capital Territory verantwortlich gewesen. Mutmaßliche Mitglieder der Boko Haram haben Regierungs- und Sicherheitsbeamte, muslimische und christliche Geistliche, einen Journalisten und zahlreiche ZivilistInnen getötet (USDOS, 31. Juli 2012). Laut MenschenrechtsverteidigerInnen hat die Boko Haram mehrere Personen getötet, denen sie vorgeworfen hatte, Informationen über die Gruppe an die Sicherheitskräfte weiterzugeben oder bei der Verhaftung von Mitgliedern beteiligt gewesen zu sein. Die Boko Haram hat selbst Warnungen ausgesprochen, Informationen an die Sicherheitskräfte weiterzugeben, berichtet AI (AI, 1. November 2012, S. 12). Seit August 2011 ist es fast wöchentlich zu Bombenanschlägen im Nordosten Nigerias gekommen. Die Anzahl von berichteten öffentlichen Enthauptungen durch die Boko Haram ist zudem gestiegen. Zu den größeren Anschlägen zählen die Bombenanschläge am Weihnachtstag 2011 und koordinierte Anschläge auf drei Regierungsgebäude in Kano im Jänner 2012. Im März 2012 sind etwa zwölf Schulen in Maiduguri in Brand gesetzt worden (USIP, Juni 2012, S. 6). Im Jahr 2012 haben mutmaßliche Mitglieder der Boko Haram Anschläge auf mindestens 16 kirchliche Messen verübt. Die Gruppe hat zudem Schulen in Brand gesetzt, Anschläge auf Zeitungsbüros verübt und muslimische Geistliche, PolitikerInnen und traditionelle HeilerInnen ermordet. In den ersten zehn Monaten des Jahres 2012 sind bei mutmaßlichen Anschlägen der Boko Haram über 900 Menschen getötet worden – mehr als die Anzahl der Opfer 2010 und 2011 insgesamt (HRW, 31. Jänner 2013).
 
 
CHRONOLOGIE VON EREIGNISSEN SEIT JUNI 2012

 
JUNI 2012
 
Bei einem Selbstmordanschlag der Boko Haram auf zwei Kirchen im Bundesstaat Bauchi sind mindestens 18 Menschen getötet und 32 weitere Verwundet worden. (CSW, 4. Juni 2012)
 
Sicherheitskräfte haben 16 mutmaßliche Mitglieder der Boko Haram in Maidguri erschossen. ZivilistInnen sind bei den stundenlangen Kämpfen von verirrten Projektilen getroffen worden, berichtet BBC. (BBC, 6. Juni 2012)
 
In der Stadt Maiduguri wurde laut Angaben der Armee und BewohnerInnen eine Person bei einer Bombenexplosion getötet. (AFP, 8. Juni 2012)
 
Mindestens fünf Menschen wurden bei einem Autobombenanschlag vor dem Polizeihauptquartier in Maiduguri getötet. Nach der Explosion stürmten Sicherheitskräfte ein mutmaßliches Versteck der Boko Haram. (BBC, 8. Juni 2012)
 
In der Stadt Jos wurden bei einem Selbstmordanschlag vor einer Kirche mindestens 50 Menschen verletzt. In Biu, im Bundesstaat Borno ist bei einem Angriff von Bewaffneten mindestens eine Person getötet worden. In Jos sind darauf sechs Menschen bei Vergeltungsmaßnahmen getötet worden, nachdem wütende Demonstranten auf die Straße gingen. (BBC, 10. Juni 2012) Die Boko Haram hat sich zu den beiden Anschlägen bekannt. (AFP, 10. Juni 2012)
 
Die Boko Haram hat sich zu drei Selbstmordanschlägen auf drei Kirchen im Bundesstaat Kaduna bekannt. Einen Tag zuvor ist es nach der Verhaftung eines mutmaßlichen Mitglieds der Boko Haram in der Stadt Damaturu zu Unruhen gekommen. (AFP, 18. Juni 2012)
 
Das US-Außenministerium hat drei Anführer der Boko Haram als Terroristen eingestuft. Abubakar Shekau ist der Anführer der Gruppe, während von Abubakar Adam Kambar und Khalid el Barnawi angenommen wird, dass sie Verbindungen zur al-Qaida unterhalten. (BBC, 21. Juni 2012)
 
Die Behörden haben eine 24-stündige Ausgangssperre in der Stadt Damaturu gelockert. Zuvor sind bei mehrtägiger Gewalt mindestens 106 Menschen in den Bundesstaaten Kaduna und Yobe getötet worden. (AFP, 21. Juni 2012)
 
Innerhalb einer Woche sind 150 Menschen getötet worden, berichtet BBC. Präsident Goodluck Jonathan hat darauf den Sicherheitsberater und Verteidigungsminister seines Amtes enthoben. (BBC, 22. Juni 2012)
 
BBC berichtet, dass 40 Häftlinge nach einem Angriff von Bewaffneten aus einem Gefängnis in der Stadt Damaturu geflohen sind. In den vergangenen Monaten ist es zu mehreren Gefängnisausbrüchen im Norden Nigerias gekommen. Für einige hat die Boko Haram die Verantwortung übernommen. (BBC, 24. Juni 2012)
 
Neun Menschen sind bei einer Bombenexplosion nahe einem Gebiet mit Lokalen in der Stadt Bauchi verletzt worden. Das Gebiet ist kürzlich von Anschlägen durch die Boko Haram betroffen gewesen. (AFP, 25. Juni 2012)
 
Bewaffnete haben fünf Polizeistellungen in drei Städten angegriffen. 27 Personen sind getötet worden. Die schwersten Kämpfe haben in der Stadt Kano stattgefunden. Keine Gruppe hat sich zu den Anschlägen bekannt, jedoch werde die Boko Haram dafür verantwortlich gemacht. (AFP, 27. Juni 2012)
 
Bewaffnete haben eine Polizeistellung im Bundesstaat Adamawa angegriffen. Für eine Welle ähnlicher Angriffe wird die Boko Haram verantwortlich gemacht. (AFP, 29. Juni 2012)
 
JULI 2012
 
In der Stadt Maiduguri, dem Stützpunkt der Boko Haram, haben Angreifer neun Bauarbeiter getötet, die an der Zentralen Moschee von Borno gearbeitet haben. (AFP, 2. Juli 2012)
Die Boko Haram hat sich zu Anschlägen im Bundesstaat Plateau bekannt, bei denen mindestens 100 Menschen getötet wurden, die Polizei macht jedoch Fulani-Hirten für die Anschläge im Gebiet Riyom und im Bezirk Barkin Ladi verantwortlich. (AFP, 10. Juli 2012)
 
Ein Selbstmordattentäter hat versucht Umar Garbai el-Kanemi, den Shehu des Bundesstaats Borno, vor dessen Moschee zu töten. Der Attentäter hat sein Ziel jedoch verfehlt und fünf andere Personen getötet. (AFP, 13. Juli 2012) Die Boko Haram hat sich zum Anschlag bekannt. (CSW, 18. Juli 2012) RFE/RL berichtet, dass der Anschlag offensichtlich zwei örtliche Anführer zum Ziel hatte, die zuvor eine Angriffsserie der Boko Haram verurteilt hatten. (RFE/RL, 14. Juli 2012) BBC berichtet, die Boko Haram hat zuvor noch keine Moschee angegriffen, jedoch muslimische Anführer getötet. (BBC, 13. Juli 2012)
 
19 Menschen wurden bei Zusammenstößen in den Städten Kano und Maiduguri getötet, für die die Behörden die Boko Haram verantwortlich machen. Die Boko Haram wird für die Tötung von 560 Menschen zwischen Jänner und Juli 2012 verantwortlich gemacht. (Guardian, 18. Juli 2012)
 
Die Boko Haram soll für einen Autobombenanschlag nahe der Kirche „Living Faith“ im Bundesstaat Kogi verantwortlich sein. (CSW, 18. Juli 2012)
 
Bei einer Bombenexplosion im Gebiet Tundunwadan Dan-iya in Bauchi sind ein zehnjähriger Junge getötet und zehn weiter e Personen verletzt worden. Das Gebiet ist für seine vielen Bars bekannt. Keine Gruppe hat sich zu dem Anschlag bekannt, jedoch hat die Boko Haram in der Vergangenheit Lokale angegriffen, in denen Alkohol ausgeschenkt wird. (AFP, 23. Juli 2012)
 
In der Stadt Kano sind bei einer Schießerei nahe einer Moschee und bei zwei weiteren Schießereien mindestens acht Menschen getötet worden. Es ist nicht klar, wer für die Anschläge verantwortlich ist, jedoch würden sie an ähnliche Vorfälle, die von der Boko Haram verübt worden sind, erinnern. (AFP, 30. Juli 2012)
 
AUGUST 2012
 
Bei einem Selbstmordanschlag in Damaturu im Bundesstaat Yobe sind mindestens sechs Soldaten und zwei ZivilistInnen getötet worden. Keine Gruppe hat sich zu dem Anschlag bekannt, aber im Bundesstaat hat die Boko Haram mehrmals Anschläge verübt. (BBC, 5. August 2012)
 
Bei einem Angriff von mutmaßlichen Mitgliedern der Boko Haram sind mindestens vier Menschen, darunter zwei Soldaten, getötet worden. Zwei der Bewaffneten sind getötet worden, andere konnten entkommen. (CSW, 8. August 2012)
 
Nigerianische Truppen haben 20 mutmaßliche Mitglieder der Boko Haram in Maiduguri getötet. Ein Soldat wurde bei den Kämpfen ebenfalls getötet. (BBC, 12. August 2012)
 
Nach einem Schusswechsel zwischen Sicherheitskräften und mutmaßlichen Mitgliedern der Boko Haram in Damaturu hat die Polizei über 30 mutmaßliche Kämpfer verhaftet. Die BewohnerInnen der Stadt beschuldigten die Polizei in den Tagen nach den Kämpfen willkürlich Verdächtige verhaftet zu haben. (AFP, 14. August 2012)
 
In Maiduguri sind bei einem Selbstmordanschlag ein Zivilist getötet und drei weitere Personen verwundet worden. Die Behörden verdächtigen die Boko Haram. (AFP, 15. August 2012)
 
Gouverneure der nördlichen Bundesstaaten, die von einem gewalttätigen islamistischen Aufstand betroffen sind, haben einen Ausschuss für einen „Dialog“ mit den verantwortlichen Gruppen eingerichtet. Die nigerianische Regierung hat zuvor zu erkennen gegeben, Gespräche mit der Boko Haram zu führen. Die Boko Haram hat einen Dialog mehrmals ausgeschlossen. Der Dialog erfolgte laut einem Sprecher des Präsidenten in „Hinterzimmern“. Weitere Informationen sind nicht bekannt. (AFP, 23. August 2012; BBC, 27. August 2012)
 
Ehemalige Sicherheitsbeamte fürchten nach Veröffentlichung ihrer persönlichen Daten im Internet um ihre Sicherheit. Die Boko Haram hat die Berichte nicht kommentiert, zuvor jedoch eine Drohung veröffentlicht. (BBC, 31. August 2012)
 
SEPTEMBER 2012
 
Auf einem Universitätscampus ist es nahe einer katholischen Messe zu mehreren Explosionen gekommen. Keine Gruppe hat sich bisher zu den Anschlägen bekannt. (Guardian, 3. September 2012)
 
Laut Angaben der Armee sind bei einem Schusswechsel im Norden des Landes sieben mutmaßliche Mitglieder der Boko Haram getötet worden. 13 weitere Personen sind nach einem Angriff auf einen Kontrollpunkt der Armee in Maiduguri verhaftet worden. (BBC, 8. September 2012)
 
Der Sprecher der Boko Haram soll laut BBC vom nigerianischen Militär getötet worden sein. Die Boko Haram hat nicht bestätigt, dass Abu Qaqa getötet worden ist. (BBC, 17. September 2012)
 
Mindestens sechs Personen, die ein Brettspiel gespielt haben, sind in Bauchi von mutmaßlichen Mitgliedern der Boko Haram erschossen worden. (AFP, 17. September 2012)
 
Mutmaßliche Mitglieder der Boko Haram haben laut offiziellen Angaben den Generalstaatsanwalt des Bundesstaates Borno getötet. Zanna Malam Gana ist in seinem Haus in der Stadt Bama erschossen worden. Der ehemalige Leiter der Gefängnisbehörde von Bauchi, Ibrahim Jarmam, ist ebenfalls von Bewaffneten erschossen worden. (BBC, 18. September 2012, AFP, 18. September 2012)
 
Laut Angaben des Roten Kreuzes sind bei einem Selbstmordanschlag auf die katholische Kirche St. John's in Bauchi mindestens zwei Personen getötet worden. Bauchi war bereits mehrmals Ziel der Boko Haram. (BBC, 23. September 2012, AFP, 23. September 2012)
 
Laut Armeeangaben sind mindestens 35 mutmaßliche Mitglieder der Boko Haram im Nordosten des Landes getötet worden. 60 weitere Personen sind bei den Operationen in den Bundesstaaten Adamawa und Yobe verhaftet worden. (BBC, 24. September 2012)
 
Die nigerianischen Behörden haben zahlreiche Beamte verhaftet, die beschuldigt werden, Angriffe für die Boko Haram durchgeführt zu haben. (BBC, 29. September 2012)
 
Bei einem Bombenanschlag und einem Schusswechsel vor einer Internatsschule im Norden des Landes sind laut offiziellen Angaben zwei der mutmaßlichen Angreifer getötet und mindestens drei weitere verletzt worden. Die Schule wird vom salafistischen Geistlichen, Awwal Adam Albani, geleitet, der für seine Kritik an der Boko Haram bekannt ist. (AFP, 30. September 2012)
 
OKTOBER 2012
 
Mindestens 26 Tote bei Angriff von Bewaffneten auf Wohngebiet von Studenten in Mubi, im Nordosten des Landes. In der vergangenen Woche hat das Militär eine Razzia gegen die Boko Haram in der Stadt durchgeführt. Laut offiziellen Angaben soll der Angriff in Verbindung mit einer kürzlich abgehaltenen Studentenwahl stehen (AFP, 2. Oktober 2012). Die Polizei hat laut eigenen Angaben viele Verdächtige in Zusammenhang mit dem Angriff auf das Wohngebiet von Studenten verhaftet, bei dem mindestens 40 Menschen getötet worden sind, berichtet AFP (AFP, 3. Oktober 2012). Laut einem Artikel der BBC hat die Polizei bestritten, dass Verhaftungen in Zusammenhang mit dem Angriff erfolgt sind. BBC führt zudem eine Zahl von mindestens 26 Toten an (BBC, 4. Oktober 2012).
 
Bei einer Explosion in Jalingo, im Bundesstaat Taraba, sind acht Menschen verletzt worden, darunter drei Kinder. Im Bundesstaat ist es zuvor fallweise zu Gewalt gekommen, für die die Boko Haram verantwortlich gemacht wird. (AFP, 6. Oktober 2012)
 
Laut einem Sprecher der Armee sind bei einem Schusswechsel mit der Boko Haram in Damaturu mindestens 30 mutmaßliche Mitglieder der islamistischen Gruppe getötet worden. 10 Personen sind verhaftet worden. (BBC, 8. Oktober 2012)
 
Mindestens 20 Menschen sind bei einem Angriff von Bewaffneten in einer Ortschaft getötet worden, die von Raubüberfällen gefährdet ist. Kaduna ist zudem mit einem Aufstand der Boko Haram konfrontiert. (BBC, 14. Oktober 2012)
 
Bei Bombenexplosionen und bewaffneten Angriffen in Maiduguri sind mindestens vier Menschen getötet worden, darunter ein örtlicher Vorsteher (AFP, 14. Oktober 2012). Laut einem Sprecher der Armee ist die Boko Haram für die Angriffe verantwortlich. 24 Mitglieder der Boko Haram sind getötet worden, nachdem die Boko Haram mehrere Einrichtungen der Militäreinheit Joint Military Taskforce (JTF) angegriffen hat (BBC, 16. Oktober 2012).
 
In der nordöstlichen Stadt Potiskum ist es zu schweren Explosionen und Schießereien gekommen. Die Stadt ist zuvor bereits von Gewalt betroffen gewesen, für die die Boko Haram verantwortlich gemacht wird (AFP, 17. Oktober 2012). Am nächsten Tag hat eine große Anzahl von Mitgliedern der Boko Haram das Feuer auf einen Militärkontrollpunkt eröffnet (AFP, 18. Oktober 2012). Am dritten Tag der Gewalt in Potiskum haben Bewaffnete acht Menschen getötet. Insgesamt sind laut Polizeiangaben 31 Menschen bei der dreitägigen Gewalt getötet worden (AFP, 20. Oktober 2012). Mehrere Soldaten sind laut Angaben aus Militärkreisen ebenfalls bei der tagelangen Gewalt in Potiskum getötet worden (BBC, 22. Oktober 2012). Hunderte BewohnerInnen sind aus der Stadt geflohen (AFP, 22. Oktober 2012).
 
Laut Armeeangaben ist ein Kommandant der Boko Haram, Shuaibu Muhammed Bama, in der Stadt Maiduguri verhaftet worden. Die Verhaftung soll im Haus eines Senators erfolgt sein (BBC, 21. Oktober 2012).
 
Mindestens sieben Menschen sind bei einem Selbstmordanschlag auf eine katholische Kirche in Kaduna getötet worden und Dutzende weitere verletzt (BBC, 28. Oktober 2012). AFP berichtet von zehn Toten und 145 Verletzten bei dem Selbstmordanschlag und darauf folgenden Vergeltungsangriffen (AFP, 29. Oktober 2012). Die Behörden machen die Boko Haram für den Anschlag auf die Kirche St. Rita verantwortlich (BBC, 1. November 2012).
 
NOVEMBER 2012
 
Laut einem Polizeisprecher haben mutmaßliche Mitglieder der Boko Haram bei einem Angriff auf eine Polizeistation im Bundesstaat Yobe drei Polizeibeamte getötet. (BBC, 9. November 2012)
 
Bewaffnete haben fünf christliche Igbo in einer Stadt im Osten Nigerias erschossen. Die Polizei hat keine Angaben dazu gemacht, ob die Boko Haram für den Anschlag verantwortlich ist. (BBC, 9. November 2012)
 
Ein ehemaliger Pastor der Glaubensgemeinschaft „Church of Christ in Nations“ wurde im Bundesstaat Borno erschossen. Er hatte einige Zeit zuvor eine Morddrohung der Boko Haram erhalten. (CSW, 19. November 2012)
 
Das Militär stellt hohe Belohnungen für Informationen in Aussicht, die zur Ergreifung von Anführern der Boko Haram führen. (BBC, 23. November 2012)
 
Laut offiziellen Angaben sind bei Selbstmordanschlägen auf eine Kirche im Bundesstaat Kaduna, die sich auf einem Militärgelände befindet, 11 Menschen getötet und 30 weitere verletzt worden. Es ist nicht klar, wer für die Anschläge verantwortlich ist, jedoch vermutet die Armee, dass der Anschlag von der Boko Haram verübt wurde. (BBC, 25. November 2012)
 
Laut Angaben der Polizei ist ein christliches Paar und ihr Kind in der nördlichen Stadt Kano von Bewaffneten auf einem Motorrad getötet worden. (AFP, 25. November 2012)
 
Zwei Polizisten wurden bei einem Angriff von Bewaffneten auf eine Polizeistation in Abuja getötet. Laut Polizeiangaben sind fünf inhaftierte mutmaßliche Räuber entflohen. Mutmaßliche Räuber und Mitglieder der Boko Haram werden meist in Polizeistationen festgehalten. Keine Gruppe hat sich zu dem Angriff bekannt. (BBC, 26. November 2012)
 
Zehn ZivilistInnen sind bei einem Angriff von Bewaffneten auf ein Gasthaus im Bundesstaat Plateau getötet worden. Niemand hat die Verantwortung für den Angriff übernommen. Neben interkommunalen Zusammenstößen sind zuvor auch Angriffe der Boko Haram erfolgt. (BBC, 27. November 2012)
 
Soldaten haben laut Militärangaben im Rahmen einer Razzia in der Stadt Maiduguri drei Mitglieder der Boko Haram getötet und Waffen und Munition beschlagnahmt. (AFP, 28. November 2012)
 
DEZEMBER 2012
 
Die Armee vermutet, dass die Boko Haram für die Tötung von 10 ChristInnen im Bundesstaat Borno verantwortlich ist. Bewaffnete haben zudem Regierungseinrichtungen und Kirchen nahe der Grenze zu Kamerun angegriffen und dabei fünf Polizisten getötet. (BBC, 3. Dezember 2012)
 
Laut offiziellen Angaben sind in der Stadt Kano Sprengsätze auf einen Bus geworfen worden, nahe einer Polizeistation ist es zu einer Explosion gekommen und zwei Polizisten sind bei einer Reihe von Angriffen getötet worden. Es ist nicht klar, wer für die Gewalt verantwortlich ist, jedoch hat die Boko Haram zuvor mehrere derartige Angriffe verübt. (AFP, 5. Dezember 2012)
 
Selbstmordattentäter haben laut Polizeiangaben die Büros von zwei Telefonanbietern in der Stadt Kano angegriffen. Die Boko Haram hat in der Vergangenheit Telefonanbieter angegriffen, die sie beschuldigt, den Sicherheitskräften bei der Suche nach ihren Mitgliedern zu helfen. (BBC, 22. Dezember 2012)
 
Bewaffnete haben im Norden Nigerias bei einer Weihnachtsmesse sechs Menschen, darunter den Pastor, getötet. Laut Angaben der Polizei und von EinwohnerInnen haben die Bewaffneten darauf das Gebäude in Brand gesetzt (AFP, 25. Dezember 2012). Keine Gruppe hat sich bislang zu dem Anschlag in der Ortschaft Peri im Bundesstaat Yobe bekannt (BBC, 25 December 2012). Die Organisation Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) bezeichnet den Ort des Anschlags als Ortschaft Firi, die sich nahe Potiskum befindet. Zudem sind sechs weitere Personen bei einem Anschlag auf eine Weihnachtsmesse im Bundesstaat Borno getötet worden (CSW, 26. Dezember 2012).
 
Angreifer haben in der nordöstlichen Stadt Maiha das Feuer auf Regierungsgebäude eröffnet und Sprengstoff eingesetzt. Laut einigen BewohnerInnen soll die Boko Haram für den Anschlag verantwortlich sein, jedoch waren auch kriminelle Banden mehrmals für Gewalt in diesem Gebiet verantwortlich (AFP, 28. Dezember 2012). Zwei Personen sind laut Polizeiangaben getötet worden. Bei einem weiteren Anschlag in Maiduguri haben Bewaffnete fünf Personen in ihren Häusern außerhalb der Stadt getötet (AFP, 29. Dezember 2012). Laut Angaben der BBC soll es sich bei den Toten um mindestens 15 ChristInnen handeln. Laut BewohnerInnen sind den Opfern die Kehlen durchgeschnitten worden. (BBC, 30. Dezember 2012) Der Angriff soll in Chibok im Bundesstaat Borno stattgefunden haben, wo die Boko Haram über Stellungen verfügt (AFP, 31. Dezember 2012).
 
Bei einem Angriff auf eine kirchliche Messe in Musari im Bundesstaat Borno sind laut einem Beamten 15 Menschen getötet worden. Das Militär bestreitet jedoch, dass ein Angriff stattgefunden hat. (AFP, 31. Dezember 2012)
 
JÄNNER 2013
 
Vier Menschen sind bei einem Angriff auf eine Polizeistation und ein Regierungsgebäude in der nordöstlichen Stadt Song getötet worden. (AFP, 3. Jänner 2012; BBC, 3. Jänner 2013)
 
Bewaffnete haben in der Stadt Kano das Feuer auf eine Gruppe Muslime eröffnet und drei Menschen getötet. Mutmaßliche Mitglieder der Boko Haram hatten zuvor eine Reihe derartiger Anschläge im Norden Nigerias durchgeführt. Jedoch kommt es auch zu Gewalttaten krimineller Banden unter dem Deckmantel der Boko Haram. (AFP, 7. Jänner 2013)
 
Laut Militärangaben wurde Mohammed Zangina, ein Anführer der Boko Haram, in Maiduguri verhaftet. Zangina ist auch unter den Namen Mallam Abdullahi und Alhaji Musa bekannt und hatte laut Militärangaben „tödliche Angriffe“ auf ZivilistInnen und Sicherheitspersonal geplant. (BBC, 14. Jänner 2013)
 
Bewaffnete haben innerhalb zweier Tage vier Polizisten in der Stadt Kano getötet, wo die Boko Haram aktiv ist. Es sind keine Verhaftungen erfolgt, da die Bewaffneten nach den Anschlägen geflohen sind. (AFP, 17. Jänner 2013)
 
Zwei mutmaßliche Islamisten und zwei ZivilistInnen sind laut Militärangaben bei einem Schusswechsel zwischen Bewaffneten und Soldaten in der Stadt Kano getötet worden. Mutmaßliche Mitglieder der Boko Haram haben zuvor das Feuer auf einen Kontrollpunkt des Militärs eröffnet. (AFP, 17. Jänner 2013)
 
Bewaffnete haben einen Anschlag auf einen Konvoi des Emir von Kano verübt. Der Emir hat überlebt, aber sein Fahrer und zwei Leibwächter sind getötet worden (BBC, 19 Jänner 2013). Laut einem Berater des Emirs gibt es keine Hinweise auf die Verantwortlichen. Viele ExpertInnen verdächtigen die Boko Haram (BBC, 7. Februar 2013).
 
Laut Militärangaben sind zwei Soldaten bei einem Anschlag auf eine Militärabteilung, die in Mali stationiert werden sollte, getötet und fünf weitere schwer verletzt worden. Einen Tag darauf hat sich die islamistische Gruppe Jama'atu Ansarul Musilimina Fi Biladis Sudan (JAMBS) zu dem Anschlag bekannt. JAMBS hat sich im Juni 2012 von der Boko Haram abgespalten und unterhält vermutlich enge Beziehungen zu islamistischen Gruppen in Nordafrika und Mali. (IRIN, 21. Jänner 2013)
 
Laut Augenzeugen haben Bewaffnete in Damboa 18 Jäger getötet, die auf einem Markt Fleisch verkauft haben. Weitere fünf Personen sind am Tag darauf in Kano getötet worden, als eine Gruppe von Männern, die Dame gespielt hat, in Kano angegriffen wurde (BBC, 22. Jänner 2013). Laut Angaben von EinwohnerInnen haben lokale Jäger in Damboa kürzlich eine Vigilante-Gruppe als Antwort auf Raubüberfälle von Mitgliedern der Boko Haram, gegründet. Dies soll zu einem Racheanschlag der Islamisten geführt haben (AFP, 22. Jänner 2013).
 
Laut Angaben von BewohnerInnen haben Angreifer in Maiduguri fünf Menschen in ihren Häusern enthauptet. Maiduguri ist ein Hauptquartier des Aufstandes der Boko Haram (AFP, 23. Jänner 2013). Mindestens 23 weitere Personen sind bei weiteren Angriffen innerhalb einer Woche im Norden des Landes getötet worden. Im vergangenen Monat wurden mindestens 15 ChristInnen nahe Maiduguri die Kehlen durchgeschnitten (BBC, 23. Jänner 2013).
 
Bei einem Angriff in der Ortschaft Gajiganna im Bundesstaat Borno sind acht Menschen getötet worden. Einigen Opfern ist die Kehle durchgeschnitten worden. Es ist unklar, wer für den Angriff verantwortlich ist, jedoch befindet sich das Hauptquartier der Boko Haram, Maiduguri, in nur 50 Kilometern Entfernung. (AFP, 28. Jänner 2013)
 
FEBRUAR 2013
 
Laut Militärangaben sind 17 Aufständische bei Angriffen auf zwei Ausbildungslager der Boko Haram getötet worden. (BBC, 1. Februar 2013)
 
Drei Ärzte aus Nordkorea sind in Potiskum, im Bundesstaat Yobe getötet worden. Zwei Ärzten sind die Kehlen durchgeschnitten worden und der dritte Arzt wurde enthauptet. Niemand hat sich zu dem Anschlag bekannt, jedoch ist dieser in einem Gebiet erfolgt, wo die Boko Haram in den vergangenen Jahren aktiv war. (BBC, 10. Februar 2013)
 
Neun Frauen, die Polio-Impfungen durchgeführt haben, sind im Bundesstaat Kano getötet worden. Keine Gruppe hat sich zu den Anschlägen bekannt, jedoch wird die Boko Haram von einigen Personen für die Tötungen verantwortlich gemacht. (BBC, 12. Februar 2013)
 
Die militante Gruppe Ansaru hat sich zu der Entführung von sieben ausländischen Arbeitskräften bekannt. Ansaru wird verdächtigt, ein Ableger der Boko Haram zu sein und wird von der Regierung des Vereinigten Königreichs als „terroristische Organisation“ mit Verbindungen zur al-Qaida im islamischen Maghreb eingestuft. (BBC, 18. Februar 2013)
 
Bei einem Bombenanschlag auf ein Militärfahrzeug in Maiduguri sind zwei ZivilistInnen getötet worden. Laut Militärangaben sind in der Stadt Flugblätter verteilt worden, die davor warnen, dass die Boko Haram, wie von einigen Medien berichtet, keinen Waffenstillstand verkündet hat. (AFP, 20. Februar 2013)
 
Im Bundesstaat Gombe haben Bewaffnete auf Motorrädern 5 Menschen erschossen und mehrere weitere verletzt. Im Bundesstaat ist es in den vergangenen Monaten mehrmals zu Angriffen gekommen, wobei für einige die Boko Haram verantwortlich gemacht wird. (AFP, 23. Februar 2013)
 
Im südlichen Teil des Bundesstaates Kaduna sind bei einem Angriff von unbekannten Bewaffneten 6 Menschen getötet und viele weitere verletzt worden. Ein christlicher Pastor habe Bedauern geäußert, dass es nach der Verkündung eines Waffenstillstandes durch die Boko Haram weiterhin zu Angriffen komme, die jenen der Gruppe gleichen würden. (CSW, 25. Februar 2013)
 
MÄRZ 2013

 
Laut Angaben des Militärs sind im Bundesstaat Borno 20 Kämpfer der Boko Haram getötet worden, die versucht haben, Militärkasernen  in der Ortschaft Monguno einzunehmen. (BBC, 3. März 2013)
 
Der Anführer der Boko Haram bestreitet in einem Video Friedensgespräche mit der Regierung und distanziert sich von einem Kommandanten der Boko Haram, der im Jänner einen Waffenstillstand verkündet hat. (Reuters - AlertNet, 4. März 2013)
 
Die militante Gruppe Ansaru behauptet sieben, ein Monat zuvor entführte ausländische Geiseln getötet zu haben. Ansaru wird verdächtigt, ein Ableger des Boko Haram-Netzwerks zu sein. (BBC, 10. März 2013)
 
Bei einer Serie von Explosionen, die auf drei vollbesetzte Busse abzielte, sind in der Stadt Kano laut einem Rettungsbeamten mindestens 20 Menschen getötet worden. Die Stadt ist zuvor mehrmals zum Ziel der Boko Haram geworden. BBC berichtet von mindestens 22 Toten. (AFP, 18. März 2013; BBC, 19. März 2013)
 
Mindestens 25 Menschen sind bei Angriffen von Bewaffneten auf ein Gefängnis, eine Polizeistation, eine Bank und eine Bar in der östlichen Stadt Ganye, im Bundesstaat Adamawa getötet worden. Keine Gruppe hat sich zu den Anschlägen bekannt, jedoch verdächtigt die Polizei die Boko Haram. (BBC, 23. März 2013; AFP, 24. März 2013)
 
Bei mehreren Explosionen in der Stadt Maiduguri sind drei Menschen, darunter ein Soldat, verletzt worden. Die nigerianischen Streitkräfte hatten zuvor in der Stadt nach Kämpfern der Boko Haram gesucht. (AFP, 28. März 2013)
 
Laut Militärangaben sind bei einer Razzia in einem Gebäude in der Stadt Kano 14 mutmaßliche Mitglieder der Boko Haram getötet worden. Zudem ist ein Soldat getötet und ein potentieller Selbstmordattentäter verhaftet worden. (BBC, 31. März 2013)
 
APRIL 2013
 
Präsident Goodluck Jonathan hat einen Ausschuss eingerichtet, um die Möglichkeit einer Amnestie für die Boko Haram zu erörtern. Religiöse und politische Anführer haben zuvor verkündet, dass mit dem militärischen Ansatz, das Problem der Gewalt nicht gelöst werden konnte. (BBC, 5. April 2013)
 
11 Menschen sind bei einem Angriff im Bundesstaat Adamawa, der den stellvertretenden Gouverneur zum Ziel hatte, getötet worden. Es ist nicht klar, wer für den Angriff verantwortlich ist. Die Boko Haram ist in der Region aktiv, jedoch ist der Bundesstaat auch Schauplatz einer politischen Fehde zwischen Mitgliedern der  regierenden PDP-Partei. (BBC, 6. April 2013; Reuters - AlertNet, 7 April 2013)
 
Die Boko Haram hat die Idee einer Amnestie zurückgewiesen. Präsident Goodluck Jonathan hat eine Woche zuvor einen Ausschuss eingerichtet, der diese Möglichkeit überdenken sollte. (BBC, 11. April 2013)
 
Islamisten haben im Bundesstaat Yobe eine Polizeistation angegriffen. 4 Polizisten und 5 Aufständische wurden getötet. Die Boko Haram wird verdächtigt, für den Angriff verantwortlich zu sein. (AFP, 11. April 2013)
 
Bei schweren Kämpfen zwischen Regierungstruppen und mutmaßlichen Mitgliedern der Boko Haram sind laut Angaben des Roten Kreuzes 187 Menschen in der nordöstlichen Stadt Baga getötet und 77 weitere verletzt worden, darunter viele ZivilistInnen. (AFP, 22. April 2013
 
 
QUELLEN: (Zugriff auf alle Quellen am 29. April 2013)

Dieses Themendossier beruht auf einer zeitlich begrenzten Recherche ausschließlich auf ecoi.net. Es ist als Einstieg in bzw. Überblick über ein Thema gedacht und stellt keine Meinung zum Inhalt eines Ansuchens um Asyl oder anderen internationalen Schutz dar. Alle Übersetzungen stellen Arbeitsübersetzungen dar, für die keine Gewähr übernommen werden kann. Jede Aussage stammt von einem Dokument, das auf ecoi.net verfügbar ist und wird mit einer ID-Suche referenziert.


English version
 
ecoi.net's featured topics offer an overview on selected issues. The featured topic for Nigeria covers the group Boko Haram and events related to it since June 2012. The featured topics are presented in the form of excerpts from documents, all coming from sources available on ecoi.net.
 

Archived version - last update: 29 April 2013. Updated versions of this featured topic are published on the respective country page.
 
Please note: In ecoi.net’s English interface, the featured topics are presented in the form of direct quotations from documents available on ecoi.net. This may lead to non-English language content being quoted. German language translations/summaries of these quotations are available when you switch to ecoi.net’s German language interface.
 
BACKGROUND INFORMATION

 
“There were unconfirmed reports of Christians forced to convert to Islam, particularly by members of Boko Haram. Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati Wal-Jihad, or People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad (more commonly referred to as Boko Haram, which is Hausa for “Western education is forbidden”), is an extremist sect with aims to overthrow the Nigerian government and impose a stricter form of Sharia throughout the country. Boko Haram has not appeared on the U.S. list of foreign terrorist organizations.” (USDOS, 30 July 2012)
 
“The group Jama’atu Ahlus-Sunnah Lidda’Awati Wal Jihad, known the world over as Boko Haram, is an extremist Islamic sect in Nigeria that has created havoc across the north of the country and in the capital, Abuja. Its violent attacks on government offices, the United Nations, and churches threaten to destabilize the country. A range of conflicting narratives has grown up around Boko Haram, and the group’s origins, motivations, and future plans remain a matter of debate.” (USIP, June 2012, p. 1)
 
“Boko Haram has claimed to be seeking an Islamic state in northern Nigeria, but its demands have repeatedly shifted and it is believed to include a number of factions with varying aims. Imitators and criminal gangs are also believed to have carried out violence under the guise of the group.” (AFP, 3 October 2012)
 
“Several individuals have also claimed to be speaking on behalf of the group, but they have been disowned by the sect.” (IRIN, 28 November 2012)
 
“Boko Haram emerged in the early 2000s as a small, radical Sunni Islamic sect that advocated a strict interpretation and implementation of Islamic law for Nigeria. Calling itself Jama’a Ahl as- Sunna Li-da’wa wa-al Jihad (JASLWJ; roughly translated from Arabic as “People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet’s Teachings and Jihad”), the group is more popularly known as Boko Haram (“Western education is forbidden”), a nickname given by local Hausa-speaking communities to describe its view that Western education and culture have been corrupting influences. It engaged in periodic skirmishes with police during its formative years, but the group’s activities were limited in scope and contained within several highly impoverished states in the predominately Muslim northeast.” (CRS, 18 July 2012, p. 13)
 
“Boko Haram’s origins lie in a group of radical Islamist youth who worshipped at the Alhaji Muhammadu Ndimi Mosque in Maiduguri a decade ago. In 2002, an offshoot of this youth group (not yet known as Boko Haram) declared the city and the Islamic establishment to be intolerably corrupt and irredeemable. […]
In December 2003, following a community dispute regarding fishing rights in a local pond, the group got into a conflict with the police. Group members overpowered a squad of officers and took their weapons. This confrontation led to a siege of its mosque by the army that lasted into the New Year. The siege ended in a shootout in which most of the group’s seventy members were killed, including Mohammed Ali. The group had gained press attention in Nigeria, and interest from the U.S. Embassy, because of the catchy name locals had given it: the Nigerian Taliban. […]
The few survivors of the “Nigerian Taliban” returned to Maiduguri, where they settled back with others from the youth group that had originated at the Ndimi mosque. The leader of this Maiduguri group, Mohammed Yusuf, then embarked on the process of establishing the group’s own mosque in Maiduguri.” (USIP, June 2012, p. 3)
 
“On the eve of the 2007 presidential elections, Sheikh Ja’afar Mahmoud Adam, a prominent, popular cleric and regular preacher at the Ndimi mosque in Maiduguri, was assassinated as he was praying at the mosque he administered in Kano. The killing was a mystery for some time, but it is now acknowledged that it was carried out on the orders of Mohammed Yusuf. Sheikh Ja’afar had begun to criticize the group for its hard-line ideology, predicting a clash with the state. The killing is now seen by some as a key point in the development of Boko Haram, because there was no longer the possibility of turning Yusuf and his followers back to the mainstream of the northern Islamic establishment. Much bloodier events soon followed. In July 2009 the group came into conflict with the authorities in a strikingly similar way to the events of six years before. […]
In Maiduguri, the police surrounded the group’s mosque, but members of the sect managed to break out and for three days they had the run of the town. […]
The police eventually regained control of Maiduguri, and then embarked on a bloody purge of the group’s members and anyone they suspected of being a Boko Haram supporter or sympathizer. Dozens of people were rounded up and executed without trial, including Yusuf’s father-in-law. Mohammed Yusuf was arrested by the army and handed over to the police, who killed him within hours.” (USIP, June 2012, p. 4)
 
“In July 2009, the government’s attempts to stop Boko Haram’s attacks on police stations and other government buildings resulted in the death of at least 700 people, a figure that likely includes not only militants, but also security personnel and bystanders. In the course of that violence, the group’s leader, Mohammed Yusuf, a charismatic young cleric who had studied in Saudi Arabia, was killed while in police custody.” (CRS, 18 July 2012, p. 14)
 
“There was some expectation that the movement would be curbed by Yusuf‘s death, but instead it grew rapidly in strength and effect, mounting a dramatic prison escape in 2010 and large scale attacks in 2011 and early 2012. It appeared to move to a strategy of spectacular attacks under its new leader, Abubakar Mohammed Shekau […]. Among these, the worst was a series of attacks in Kano in January killing over 185 people. Two attacks in mid- 2011 were also significant. Both were suicide car bombings in the capital city of Abuja, one on the UN offices, and the other on the police headquarters.” (Oxford Research Group, 30 April 2012)
 
“While Boko Haram’s declared political objective of replacing the Nigerian state with an Islamic polity ruled by shari’a is understood, little is actually known about the group’s current leaders or members. It seems to enjoy a degree of support in northeastern Nigeria—especially the states of Borno, Yobe, Gombe, and Bauchi. Nonetheless, analysts estimate active militants to number in the low hundreds, with perhaps as many as a few thousand supporters engaged to varying degrees. While Abubakar Shekau has asserted his leadership and evidently proven successful in achieving a sufficient level of organization to maintain a punishing pace of coordinated attacks, the organization is still comprised of a composite of different actors, ranging from Islamist militants to disaffected citizens to opportunistic criminals and hooligans, including some who have been encouraged by politicians keen on exploiting the ensuing violence and instability to advance their own political agendas.” (ACSS, April 2012, p. 5)
 
“Since the 2009 violence, Boko Haram has remained underground, and little is known about its leadership or organizational structure. Statements from the group have come from two successive “official” spokespersons, using the pseudonyms “Abu Zaid” and “Abu Qaqa,” who have conducted telephone interviews and emailed statements to journalists, but their actual identifies are unknown. Since 2010 Shekau has appeared in several videos posted online claiming responsibility for attacks and threatening further violence. The clandestine nature of the group has led to much speculation about the composition of its leadership and membership, possible factions, sponsors, and links with foreign groups. In January 2012, for example, President Goodluck Jonathan warned that Boko Haram sympathizers were present at all levels of government” (HRW, 11 October 2012, p. 37)
 
“However, a dissident faction that rejects Shekau’s leadership emerged in January 2012, using the name Jama’atu Ansaril Muslimina fi Biladis Sudan (Vanguard for the Protection of Muslims in Black Africa, or simply ‘Ansaru’) (Vanguard [Lagos], February 1, 2012). This new movement appears to coordinate its operations in Nigeria with the northern Mali-based al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJWA). […] When Ansaru first announced its existence publicly on January 26, 2012 by distributing fliers in Kano after Boko Haram attacks in the city killed approximately 150 Muslim civilians, media reports described Ansaru’s emergence as a reaction to the ‘loss of innocent Muslim lives’ (Vanguard, February 1, 2012). […] Despite Ansaru’s differences with Boko Haram, the group maintains that Ansaru and Boko Haram are like ‘al-Qaeda and the Taliban, pursuing similar objectives and engaging in the same struggle, but with different leaders’ (Desert Herald, June 5). Ansaru says its leader is Abu Usmatul al-Ansari, who appears with a veil covering his face in videos, and that its spokesman is Abu Jafa’ar, both of which are likely pseudonyms.” (Jamestown Foundation, 10 January 2013)
 
“Boko Haram has morphed. Its original incarnation had its roots in a northern millenarian tradition, a response to the corruption and injustice of both the Nigerian state and the Islamic establishment. After the death of Yusuf, a young cleric who had attracted a significant following, power transferred to the more radical Abubakar Shekau, and they announced a common cause with the global jihadist movement. ‘It is no longer a single group,’ according to political analyst Hussaini Abdu. ‘My feeling is that there are different tendencies. There is the traditional one, that Yusuf and now Shekau leads, but there are also emerging groups capitalizing on the insecurity in the country.’” (IRIN, 16 July 2012)
 
“Boko Haram has been held responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people in attacks in northern Nigeria. US officials have said it is likely to be sharing funds, training and explosive materials with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and Somalia's al-Shabab.” (BBC, 6 July 2012)
 
“AQIM has reportedly trained Boko Haram fighters in the Sahel and provided Boko Haram with US$ 250,000 to kidnap “white-skinned” foreigners. Boko Haram is obliged to hand over the hostages to AQIM in return for arms and ammunition.(CACI, 27 June 2012)
 
“Since June 2010, people claiming to act for the Boko Haram movement have killed more than a 1,000 people, mostly in central and northeastern Nigeria. […] Even less widely reported have been the reprisals carried out by the security forces after Boko Haram attacks - arbitrary detentions, ill-treatment in custody, communal punishments such as the burning of homes and businesses, and extrajudicial killings.” (IRIN, 29 November 2012)
 
 
 
OVERVIEW

 
“Attacks by Boko Haram have left more than 1,400 people dead in northern and central Nigeria since 2010.“ (HRW, 8 August 2012)
 
“Sometime in mid-2010 Boko Haram returned to Maiduguri and started a campaign of assassinations. This campaign began with hit-and-run attacks against police checkpoints in Borno and Yobe.” (USIP, June 2012, p. 5)
 
“Nigeria experienced a steady increase in terrorist attacks in 2011, particularly in the northern states of Borno, Yobe, Bauchi, Gombe, Plateau, and Kaduna as well as in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Nigeria-based extremists, collectively known as Boko Haram (BH), participated in many of these attacks. BH suspects killed Nigerian government and security officials, Muslim and Christian clerics, a journalist, and numerous civilians.” (USDOS, 31 July 2012)
 
“Attacks attributed to the group since 2010 have increasingly featured improvised explosive devices (IEDs), car bombs, and suicide attacks. Boko Haram has primarily focused on state and federal targets, such as police stations, but has also targeted civilians in schools, churches, markets, and beer halls. The group has also conducted assassinations of local political leaders and moderate Muslim clerics. Bank robberies attributed to the group may contribute to its financing, although authorities warn that criminal groups may also be opportunistically posing as Boko Haram militants.” (CRS, 18 July 2012, p. 14)
 
“Local human rights defenders told Amnesty International that several people have been killed by Boko Haram because they were said to have given information to the security forces about Boko Haram members or assisted in the arrest of members. Boko Haram has itself issued warnings to people against passing information to the security forces.” (AI, 1 November 2012, p. 12)
 
“Since August 2011 there have been almost weekly attacks by militants planting bombs in public or in churches in Nigeria’s northeast. The group has also broadened its targets, away from direct revenge attacks on the state to include other representations of authority. This expansion includes setting fire to schools and attacking newspaper offices. In March 2012, some twelve public schools in Maiduguri were burned down during the night, with as many as 10,000 pupils forced out of education. […]
 
There has also been an increase in reports of people being beheaded in public by Boko Haram. […]
 
Big attacks have included bombings on Christmas Day 2011, when bombs were detonated in three states, Niger, Plateau, and Yobe, killing forty-five people. In January 2012 three groups of gunmen and suicide bombers coordinated attacks on three government buildings in Kano—the police headquarters, the office of the immigration service, and the State Security Service. More than two hundred people were killed.” (USIP, June 2012, p. 6)
 
“At this writing, suspected Boko Haram members had gunned down or bombed worshipers in at least 16 church services in 2012. The group also burned schools, bombed newspaper offices, and assassinated Muslim clerics, politicians, and traditional leaders. In the first 10 months of 2012 alone, more than 900 people died in suspected attacks by the group—more than in 2010 and 2011 combined.” (HRW, 31 January 2013)
 
 
CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS

 
JUNE 2012
 
“At least 18 people died and 32 were wounded yesterday in a suicide bomb attack by Boko Haram that targeted two churches in Bauchi State, north east Nigeria. The bombing reportedly occurred just as the congregation of Living Faith Church in Yelwa Tudu, Bauchi city was leaving the service.” (CSW, 4 June 2012)
 
“Nigerian security forces have shot dead 16 suspected militants from the Islamic sect Boko Haram in the north-eastern city of Maiduguri, officials say. They were killed in a fierce gunfight overnight, witnesses say. They say civilians were hit by stray bullets in the fighting, which lasted for hours. The army says none of soldiers died.” (BBC, 6 June 2012)
 
“A bomb killed one person early Friday in the northern city of Maiduguri where Islamist sect Boko Haram has carried out series of deadly attacks, the army and residents said.” (AFP, 8 June 2012)
 
“A suicide car bomb outside police headquarters in the north-eastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri has killed at least five people, police say. Following the blast, security forces in the city stormed a suspected hideout of the Islamist Boko Haram group, prompting a fierce gun battle, police sources told the BBC. There is a huge security presence in Maiduguri, which is the stronghold of Boko Haram.” (BBC, 8 June 2012)
 
“Boko Haram militants have attacked two churches during Sunday services, triggering deadly reprisal attacks. In the central city of Jos, a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a church, wounding at least 50 people. In a separate attack, gunmen opened fire during a service in Biu in northeastern Borno state, leaving at least one person dead. Six people were then killed in Jos in reprisals when angry demonstrators took to the streets in protest.” (BBC, 10 June 2012)
 
“’We are responsible for the suicide attack on a church in Jos and also another attack on another church in Biu,’ the spokesman calling himself Abul Qaqa told reporters in the northeastern city of Maiduguri in a phone conference.” (AFP, 10 June 2012)
 
“Fresh explosions and gunfire rocked a northeastern Nigerian city on Monday, a day after suicide attacks claimed by Islamists and reprisal violence by rampaging Christian mobs left 52 people dead. […]
Boko Haram claimed responsibility for three suicide attacks on churches in Kaduna state on Sunday which led to deadly rioting, while police blamed the group for the violence that broke out in Damaturu. A military commander said the Damaturu unrest on Monday occurred after authorities arrested a Boko Haram suspect, prompting other members of the group to respond by setting off explosives and shooting indiscriminately.” (AFP, 18 June 2012)
 
“Three leaders of Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamist group have been designated as terrorists by the US state department. Abubakar Shekau leads the militant group, while Abubakar Adam Kambar and Khalid el Barnawi are thought to have ties with a branch of al-Qaeda.” (BBC, 21 June 2012)
 
“Nigerian authorities said late Thursday they had relaxed a 24-hour curfew imposed on the northern state of Kaduna following clashes that left scores dead since the weekend. […] Islamist sect Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the attacks. […]
Days of violence in Kaduna and northeastern Yobe state left at least 106 people dead. Authorities also imposed a 24-hour curfew on Damaturu, capital of Yobe. The curfew was on Thursday relaxed in Damaturu, where clashes between security forces and suspected Islamists Monday and Tuesday killed at least 40 and stranded residents unable to return home or access food.” (AFP, 21 June 2012)
 
“Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan has sacked his national security adviser and defence minister, amid mounting violence in the north. […]The move comes after a spate of attacks, including suicide attacks on churches, by Boko Haram Islamists. About 150 people have died this week.” (BBC, 22 June 2012)
 
“Forty prisoners have escaped from a jail in the northern Nigerian town of Damaturu after it was stormed by a group of armed men, police say. […]The past few months have seen several jail breaks in northern Nigeria, some but not all of which have been admitted by the Islamist group Boko Haram. There were no suspected Boko Haram members in the jail, Mr Egbuniwe said.” (BBC, 24 June 2012)
 
“An explosion near a cluster of bars in the northern Nigerian city of Bauchi, recently targeted by Boko Haram Islamists, has injured nine people, police said Monday. The home-made explosive device planted in an unfinished building next to a group of pubs went off at around 10:00 pm on Sunday in the city's Tudunwadan Dan-Iya neighbourhood, Bauchi state police commissioner Mohammed Ladan told AFP.” (AFP, 25 June 2012)
 
“The death toll from the latest gun battles between militants and police in northern Nigeria, wracked by Islamist and ethnic violence, rose to 27 on Wednesday, police said. Gunmen attacked five police posts and a prison across three cities late Tuesday, sparking responses from security forces, with the heaviest fighting concentrated in Kano, Nigeria's second city and the largest in the north. No group claimed the raids, but the violence was likely to be blamed on Boko Haram Islamists, responsible for more than 1,000 deaths in Nigeria since mid-2009.” (AFP, 27 June 2012)
 
“Militants armed with guns and explosives attacked a police station in northeastern Nigeria late Thursday, police said, amid a wave of similar attacks blamed on Boko Haram Islamists. The attackers stormed the police post in Adamawa state's town of Gulak, which is roughly 200 kilometres (125 miles) from the capital Yola, state police spokesman Nemuel Yoila told AFP.” (AFP, 29 June 2012)
 
JULY 2012
 
“Attackers killed nine construction workers early Monday in the restive northeastern city of Maiduguri, the base of the Islamist Boko Haram sect, the army said. The victims, working at Shehu of Borno's Central Mosque in the city, were ‘massacred’ by unknown assailants at around 01:45 am (1245 GMT), said a statement from the Joint Task Force (JTF).” (AFP, 2 July 2012)
 
“Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamists on Tuesday claimed weekend attacks in central Plateau state that killed more than 100 people, but police insisted another group was responsible. On Saturday gunmen stormed several Christian villages in the religiously divided state's Riyom area, killing more than 80 people. The following day, assailants shot up the graveyard in the Barkin Ladi district where some of the victims of the previous day's violence were being buried, killing at least 22 people, including two prominent politicians. Police dismissed the Islamists' claim, saying those responsible for both assaults were Fulani herdsmen, a majority Muslim group with long-standing land rights grievances against the state's mainly Christian leaders. Boko Haram has in the past claimed killings widely thought to have been carried out by another group, in an effort to boost its stature.” (AFP, 10 July 2012)
 
“A suicide bomber in north Nigeria tried to assassinate a key Islamic leader outside his mosque after Friday prayers but missed his target and killed five others, police said. The attempt to kill Umar Garbai el-Kanemi, who carries the title of Shehu of northeastern Borno state, was likely to be blamed on Islamist group Boko Haram, who have launched a wave of attacks in Nigeria.” (AFP, 13 July 2012)
 
“The Islamist sect Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the shootings in Plateau State and for the suicide bombing at Maiduguri’s Central Mosque on 13 July, in which five people were killed, the first time that Boko Haram has attacked a mosque. The teenage bomber is thought to have been targeting dignitaries in attendance, in particular the Shehu of Borno, a prominent traditional Muslim ruler, and the Deputy Governor of Borno State.” (CSW, 18 July 2012)
 
“At least five people have been killed in a suspected suicide bomb attack outside a mosque in northeast Nigeria.   Security officials said the attack after Friday prayers on July 13 in Maiduguri appeared to target two local leaders who had condemned a recent series of attacks by the Boko Haram sect. Maiduguri, a Boko Haram stronghold, has been a flashpoint for violence.” (RFE/RL, 14 July 2012)
 
“BBC Nigeria analyst Jimeh Saleh says the group has not targeted a mosque before, but it is known to have assassinated Muslim leaders.” (BBC, 13 July 2012)
 
“Nineteen people were killed during clashes with Islamist insurgents in north-eastern Nigeria on Tuesday, officials said. The violence, which authorities blamed on the radical Boko Haram sect, hit the cities of Kano and Maiduguri, where the group once had its main mosque. […]
Nigeria faces a growing wave of sectarian violence carried out by Boko Haram. The sect's name translates as "Western education is sacrilege" in the Hausa language of Nigeria's predominantly Muslim north. The sect has been blamed for killing more than 560 people this year alone, according to the Associated Press. Targets have included churches, often attacked by suicide car bombers.” (Guardian, 18 July 2012)
 
“Boko Haram is also thought to be responsible for a car bomb that exploded at a filling station near a Living Faith church in Okene, an area close to Lokoja, the Kogi State capital on Sunday 15 June.” (CSW, 18 July 2012)
 
“A bomb blast in restive northern Nigeria killed a 10-year-old boy and wounded 10 others on Sunday, police said, in an area repeatedly targeted by a radical Islamist group. The explosion went off at around 6:30 pm (1730 GMT) in Bauchi city's Tundunwadan Dan-iya area, a neighbourhood known for its cluster of bars and other entertainment spots. Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamists, responsible for scores of deadly attacks across the north, have previously struck social venues including those that serve alcohol, although no group immediately claimed responsibility for Sunday blast.” (AFP, 23 July 2012)
 
“A gun battle near a mosque in the northern Nigerian city of Kano and two other shootings left at least eight people dead on Sunday in the latest violence to hit the area, authorities said. It was not clear who was behind the attacks in the city of Kano, the largest in Nigeria's mainly Muslim north, but they resembled similar incidents in the past blamed on Islamist militant group Boko Haram.” (AFP, 30 July 2012)
 
AUGUST 2012
 
“A suicide bomber in the Nigerian city of Damaturu has killed at least six soldiers and two civilians, police say. […] No group has said it carried out the bombing, but Damaturu is the capital of Yobe state which has seen frequent attacks by Islamist sect Boko Haram.” (BBC, 5 August 2012)
 
“Okene Central Mosque in Okene, Kogi State was attacked by gunmen yesterday, who shot and killed four people, including two soldiers. The gunmen, thought to be members of Boko Haram, dressed in white and pretended to be worshippers, chanting Islamic songs before opening fire. Two of the gunmen were killed but others escaped the scene. ” (CSW, 8 August 2012)
 
“Nigerian troops have killed 20 suspected members of the militant Islamist group Boko Haram in the north-east of the country, the army says. One government soldier also died in a shootout in the town of Maiduguri.” (BBC, 12 August 2012)
 
“Hundreds of residents of a northeastern Nigerian city were fleeing Tuesday after arrests by troops and rumours of new attacks by Islamist militants, prompting authorities to plead for calm. Residents of several neighbourhoods in the city of Damaturu accused troops of moving door-to-door over the past two days and arbitrarily arresting those suspected of belonging to Islamist militant group Boko Haram. The alleged arrests follow a gun battle between security forces and suspected Boko Haram members Sunday that left two militants dead in Damaturu, the capital of Yobe state. Police claimed to have arrested more than 30 suspected militants.” (AFP, 14 August 2012)
 
“A suicide bomber killed himself and a civilian while wounding three others in an attack targeting a military vehicle on Wednesday in northeastern Nigeria, authorities said. The attack occurred in the city of Maiduguri, where Islamist extremist group Boko Haram has been based. Authorities said Boko Haram was suspected in the attack, which was similar to scores of others committed by the group.” (AFP, 15 August 2012)
 
“State governors from Nigeria's north, which is grappling with a violent Islamist insurgency, on Wednesday formed a body aimed at holding "dialogue" with groups fuelling the crisis. […] Last week, Nigeria's government signalled that it had held some form of talks Boko Haram, but the details were vague and the extremists have repeatedly ruled out dialogue.” (AFP, 23 August 2012)
 
“The Nigerian government says it has started informal talks with Boko Haram to try to end deadly attacks by the militant Islamist group. A presidential spokesman said the dialogue was through "backroom channels", without elaborating further.“ (BBC, 27 August 2012)
 
“Former Nigerian secret agents have told the BBC they are concerned for their safety after their personal records were published online. […] Militant Islamist group Boko Haram has not commented on reports it was behind the leak. […] A previous posting reportedly carried a threat from Boko Haram, which has killed hundreds of people in a series of attacks over the past three years.” (BBC, 31 August 2012)
 
SEPTEMBER 2012
 
“Several explosions have struck a university campus in northern Nigeria near a theatre hall where Catholics were holding a service, witnesses and officials say. […] No group immediately claimed responsibility. The attack comes as Nigeria faces a growing sectarian battle between its weak central government and radical Islamist sect Boko Haram.” (Guardian, 3 September 2012)
 
“The Nigerian army says it has killed seven suspected members of the Islamist militant group Boko Haram in a gun battle in the north of the country. A spokesman said a further 13 people were arrested after an attack on an army checkpoint in Maiduguri.” (BBC, 8 September 2012)
 
“The spokesman for Islamist militant group Boko Haram has been killed by Nigeria's military, reliable sources have told the BBC. However, Boko Haram has not confirmed that Abu Qaqa has been killed.” (BBC, 17 September 2012)
 
“Gunmen suspected of belonging to the Boko Haram Islamist sect late Sunday shot dead at least six people who were playing ludo game in northern Nigerian city of Bauchi, the Red Cross said.” (AFP, 17 September 2012)
 
“Suspected militants from the Islamist group Boko Haram have killed the attorney general of the north-eastern state of Borno, Nigerian officials say. Zanna Malam Gana was shot dead in his house in the town of Bama on Monday night, they said. Gunmen also shot dead Ibrahim Jarmam, the former head of the prison service in neighbouring Bauchi state.” (BBC, 18 September 2012)
 
“Gunmen have killed the justice commissioner for a Nigerian state at the heart of an Islamist insurgency and also an ex-prisons chief in another volatile area, government and police sources said Tuesday.” (AFP, 18 September 2012)
 
“A suicide bomber has attacked a church in Bauchi, northern Nigeria, killing at least two people and injuring 48, according to the Red Cross. […] Bauchi has often been targeted by the Islamist Boko Haram group, which wants to impose Sharia law across Nigeria.” (BBC, 23 September 2012)
 
“A suicide bomber who tried to ram an explosives-packed car into a Nigerian church on Sunday killed a woman and an eight-year-old boy, while wounding dozens more, the Red Cross and police said. The attacker targeted the St. John's Catholic Church in the northern city of Bauchi, where tight security was imposed after a wave church bombings claimed by the radical Islamist group Boko Haram.” (AFP, 23 September 2012)
 
“At least 35 suspected Islamists have been killed in a sweep against the Boko Haram group in north-eastern Nigeria, the army has said. The army said it detained more than 60 others during operations in Adamawa and Yobe states.” (BBC, 24 September 2012)
 
“Nigerian authorities have arrested a number of officials, accusing them of carrying out attacks for an Islamist militant group. The military said they had captured an immigration officer who confessed to being an active member of Boko Haram. His confession led to the arrest of a number of other officials.” (BBC, 29 September 2012)
 
“A bomb blast and gunfire shook an area around an Islamic boarding school in northern Nigeria on Sunday, leaving two of the alleged attackers dead and at least three others wounded, officials said. […] The boarding school is run by prominent Salafist cleric Awwal Adam Albani, known for outspoken criticism of Boko Haram.” (AFP, 30 September 2012)
 
OCTOBER 2012
 
“Gunmen massacred at least 26 people in a student housing area of northeast Nigeria on Tuesday, calling victims out by name before shooting them or slitting their throats, officials said. The motive for the attack at the mixed Christian and Muslim school was not immediately clear. It occurred in the early hours in the town of Mubi, where the military last week carried out a high-profile raid against Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, which has been waging a deadly insurgency. But some officials suggested the massacre may have been linked to a recent student election.” (AFP, 2 October 2012)
 
“Nigerian police said Wednesday they had arrested many suspects following a massacre at a student housing area that left at least 40 people dead, with victims shot or their throats slit.” (AFP, 3 October 2012)
 
“Nigerian police have denied that there have been arrests in connection with the killing of at least 26 people at a college hostel in Mubi.” (BBC, 4 October 2012)
 
“A blast in Nigeria's eastern city of Jalingo injured a woman and seven others, including three children, the national emergency agency said on Saturday, correcting an earlier statement that she had died. […] Jalingo is the capital of Taraba state, which has been occasionally hit by violence blamed on Islamic extremist group Boko Haram. Bars have sometimes been targeted, although crime and local disputes have also led to such incidents.” (AFP, 6 October 2012)
 
“About 30 suspected members of the militant Islamist group Boko Haram have died in a gun battle with troops in north-east Nigeria, the military says. Army spokesman Lt Eli Lazarus said the battle in Damaturu lasted several hours and 10 arrests were also made.” (BBC, 8 October 2012)
 
“Gunmen have killed at least 20 people in a dawn attack in a remote village prone to bandit attacks, in northern Nigeria's Kaduna State, reports say. […] Kaduna lies on the dividing line between Nigeria's largely Christian south and mainly Muslim north. It is one of the areas where conflict between rival religious and ethnic groups has claimed many hundreds of lives. It is plagued by an insurgency led by the militant Islamist sect Boko Haram.” (BBC, 14 October 2012)
 
“Nigeria's restive city of Maiduguri was on Sunday rocked by a roadside blast and two separate gun attacks that killed at least four people including a local chief, residents and the military said. The northeastern city is a stronghold of Islamist group Boko Haram but it was not immediately clear who was behind the latest violence.” (AFP, 14 October 2012)
 
“The loud explosions that have rocked Nigeria's northern city of Maiduguri were orchestrated by the militant group Boko Haram, an army spokesman has said. Lt Col Sagir Musa told the BBC the multiple attacks targeted locations used by the Joint Military Taskforce (JTF) in the city, the Islamists' base. He said 24 militants had been killed but denied reports that civilians or soldiers had died.” (BBC, 16 October 2012)
 
“Heavy explosions and gunfire rocked the northeast Nigerian town of Potiskum on Wednesday, residents said, after violence this week left at least 24 people dead in the city of Maiduguri. Blasts and shootings shook residents of Potiskum, previously hit hard by violence blamed on Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, residents said.” (AFP, 17 October 2012)
 
“Explosions and gunfire shook northeast Nigeria's Potiskum for the second day running on Thursday, further rattling the city previously hit hard by Islamist extremist attacks. One resident said the violence seemed to have started with a large number of attackers from Islamist extremist group Boko Haram opening fire on a military checkpoint and throwing explosives, leading to gun battles.” (AFP, 18 October 2012)
 
“Gunmen killed eight people in Nigeria's troubled city of Potiskum Saturday, raising the death toll to 31 for three days of violence in the northeastern town, police and residents said.” (AFP, 20 October 2012)
 
“Several Nigerian soldiers have been killed by suspected Islamist militants in the north-eastern town of Potiskum, an army source has told the BBC. The town has seen days of violence, with 31 reported killed and hundreds of residents fleeing since Thursday.” (BBC, 22 October 2012)
 
“Hundreds of residents of a northeastern Nigerian city were fleeing Sunday after three days of Islamist attacks that left at least 31 dead and many buildings and properties razed, witnesses said.” (AFP, 22 October 2012)
 
“The Nigerian army says it has arrested a senior commander of Boko Haram, as attacks by suspected members of the Islamist group continue. Shuaibu Muhammed Bama was detained at the home of a serving senator in the city of Maiduguri, the army said.” (BBC, 21 October 2012)
 
“At least seven people have been killed and dozens injured in a suicide bombing during Mass at a Catholic church in northern Nigeria, officials say. An explosive-laden vehicle drove into the church and detonated its load, ripping a hole in the wall and roof. The attack happened in Kaduna, which has been targeted by Islamist militant group Boko Haram in the recent past.” (BBC, 28 October 2012)
 
“Nigerian troops patrolled the streets of the northern city of Kaduna on Monday, a day after at least 10 people were killed and 145 wounded in a suicide church bombing and reprisal violence.” (AFP, 29 October 2012)
 
“Days after the latest suicide bomb attack in northern Nigeria, people at St Rita's church in Kaduna city are still shocked at what happened. […] The authorities suspect the militant Islamist sect, Boko Haram, was behind Sunday's attack.” (BBC, 1 November 2012)
 
NOVEMBER 2012
 
“Suspected Islamist militants have killed three officers in a raid on a police station in northern Nigeria. A police spokesman in Yobe state says the gunmen made off with arms and ammunition following Friday's attack. The Gujba police station is close to Damaturu, a town that has been attacked several times this year by Boko Haram.” (BBC, 9 November 2012)
 
“Gunmen have shot dead five Christian residents of a town in a restive northeastern Nigerian region previously hit by deadly Islamist attacks, the police said Sunday. The gunmen stormed the home of five Christian ethnic Igbos from eastern Nigeria in Gaidam town late Saturday and shot them dead before fleeing, state police commissioner Patrick Egbuniwe said. […]
It is not clear if the assailants killed them because they were Christians.  Egbuniwe did not say whether Boko Haram was behind the killing.” (AFP, 11 November 2012)
 
“A retired pastor from the COCIN (Church of Christ in Nations) denomination was shot dead in his home in Borno State yesterday as he and his family were preparing to attend a Sunday church service. […] According to the Nigerian newspaper The Guardian, Rev Kabura had received a death threat from Boko Haram earlier this year, but refused to flee the area.” (CSW, 19 November 2012)
 
“Nigeria's military is offering large rewards for information leading to the capture of leaders of the militant Islamist group Boko Haram.” (BBC, 23 November 2012)
 
“Suicide bombers have attacked a church inside a military barracks in Kaduna state in northern Nigeria, killing 11 people and injuring 30, officials say. […] It is not clear who was responsible for the attack. But the army suspects Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which has recently targeted churches in the state.” (BBC, 25 November 2012)
 
“In another incident on Sunday, two morotcycle-riding gunmen killed a Christian couple and their child in Kano, the main city in northern Nigeria, police and residents said.” (AFP, 25 November 2012)
 
“Two police officers have been killed when a ‘large number of gunmen’ attacked a Nigerian police base in the capital, Abuja, enabling five suspected robbers to escape, police say.  A police statement said the attack was repelled but that 30 detainees escaped, 25 of whom were recaptured.  Suspected robbers and militants from the Boko Haram Islamist group are often held at the police base.  No group has said it carried out the attack” (BBC, 26 November 2012)
 
“Ten civilians have died after gunmen stormed a pub in central Nigeria's Plateau state and opened fire on customers, authorities say. […] No responsibility has been claimed for the attack so far. In addition to inter-communal clashes, militant Islamist group Boko Haram has also staged attacks in the area.” (BBC, 27 November 2012)
 
“Nigerian troops have killed three Boko Haram Islamists and recovered arms and ammunition in a crackdown on the group in the restive northeastern city of Maiduguri, the military said Wednesday.” (AFP, 28 November 2012)
 
DECEMBER 2012
 
“Suspected Islamist fighters have killed 10 Christians in an overnight machete and gun attack in Borno state in north-east Nigeria. Later, gunmen attacked government targets and churches near the border with Cameroon, killing five policemen. It is not yet clear who was behind the attacks. But the army suspects the Islamist Boko Haram group, which often targets security forces, government officials or Christians it views as infidels.” (BBC, 3 December 2012)
 
“Attackers threw homemade bombs at a bus, a blast went off near a police station and two policemen were shot dead in a spate of attacks in the Nigerian city of Kano, officials said on Wednesday.  It was not clear who was behind the violence which began on Tuesday in Kano, the largest city in Nigeria's mainly Muslim north, though Islamist extremist group Boko Haram has carried out scores of such attacks.  It was not clear if the three incidents were connected. At least three people were also wounded.” (AFP, 5 December 2012)
 
“Suicide bombers in Nigeria have attacked the offices of two mobile phone companies in the northern city of Kano, police say. […] The Islamist militants, Boko Haram, have previously targeted mobile phone companies, claiming they help the security forces track down their members.” (BBC, 22 December 2012)
 
“Gunmen attacked a church in volatile northern Nigeria during a Christmas Eve service, killing six people including the pastor, before setting the building ablaze, residents and police said Tuesday, as the pope deplored ‘savage acts of terrorism’ against Christians in Africa's most populous nation. The raid in Yobe state is the latest violence likely to be blamed on radical Islamist sect Boko Haram, which has repeatedly targeted churches during times of worship, including multiple attacks last year on Christmas Day, during its deadly insurgency.” (AFP, 25 December 2012)
 
“Gunmen in the northern Nigerian state of Yobe have shot dead at least six Christians, the army and local officials say.  They say a church in Peri village near Potiskum, the economic capital of Yobe, was set on fire in an attack late on Christmas Eve. No group has so far said it carried out the attack.” (BBC, 25 December 2012)
 
“Six people were killed and two injured when gunmen attacked a church service in a village in Yobe State on Christmas morning. Six others were murdered in an assault on a Christmas Eve service in Borno State. According to local sources gunmen suspected to be members of the Islamist extremist militia Boko Haram raided Firi Village, situated around 2 kilometres north of Potiskum Town, during the early hours of Christmas Day. They began by attacking the midnight service at the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN), where six people were killed, including the church’s pastor.” (CSW, 26 December 2012)
 
“Attackers on Friday opened fire and threw explosives at government buildings in a northeastern Nigerian town along the border with Cameroon that has hit previously by robbery gangs, police and residents said. It was unclear if there were casualties from the attacks in Maiha. Some residents said they suspected Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, but criminal gangs have also repeatedly carried out violence around border posts in the area.” (AFP, 28 December 2012)
 
“Gunmen suspected of belonging to the Boko Haram Islamist group have killed seven people in separate attacks in Nigeria's volatile north, the police and army said Saturday. In the first attack on Friday, gunmen opened fire and threw explosives at several targets including a police station, a prison and government offices in Maiha, a northeastern town along the border with Cameroon, leaving two dead, police said. […] In a related development also on Friday, Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa, the military spokesman in Maiduguri, the epicentre of previous deadly attacks blamed on Boko Haram, said some gunmen killed five people in their homes outside the city.” (AFP, 29 December 2012)
 
“Suspected Islamist militants killed at least 15 Christians in northern Nigeria, slitting the throats of their victims, witnesses said. The attack happened on Friday near Maiduguri, a stronghold of Islamist militants Boko Haram, but details were slow to emerge. In a second attack, gunmen killed two people, including a policeman, and burnt down government buildings in Maiha, on the border with Cameroon. No group has claimed responsibility.” (BBC, 30 December 2012)
 
“Attackers have stormed a church service in an area of Nigeria's volatile northeast and killed 15 people in the latest such violence targeting Christians in recent days, an official said Monday. Nigeria's military however denied the attack, with a spokesman issuing a statement saying that while he was not present in the area where it was said to have occurred, ‘all my enquiries indicated that nothing like that happened.’ […] The attack followed violence on Friday that saw attackers slit the throats of 15 Christians in a pre-dawn raid in Musari, also in the northeast. Musari and Chibok are located in Nigeria's Borno state, where Boko Haram has been based. ” (AFP, 31 December 2012)
 
JANUARY 2013
 
“Heavily armed gunmen killed four people in an attack Thursday that burnt a police station and a government building in a northeastern Nigerian town, police said. The gunmen attacked the police station in the town of Song near the border with Cameroon and engaged soldiers and police officers in a shootout, police spokesman Mohammed Ibrahim told AFP.” (AFP, 3 January 2013)
 
“Four people have been killed when a police station and local government office were destroyed by gunmen in north-eastern Nigeria, police say.” (BBC, 3 January 2013)
 
“Gunmen on a motorcycle killed three people on Monday when they opened fire on a group of Muslim worshippers in the northern Nigerian city of Kano, the latest such attack in the region, police said. […] Gunmen thought to belong to Islamist extremist group Boko Haram have done scores of such shootings in Nigeria's north, though criminal gangs also carry out violence under the guise of the group.” (AFP, 7 January 2013)
 
“The Nigerian military says it has arrested a leader of the Islamist militant group, Boko Haram.  Mohammed Zangina was detained in the Government Reserved Area (GRA) of the north-eastern city of Maiduguri on Sunday afternoon, a statement said.  Mr Zangina, also known as Mallam Abdullahi and Alhaji Musa, was planning "deadly attacks" against civilians and security personnel there, it added.” (BBC, 14 January 2013)
 
“Gunmen have killed at least four policemen in the last two days in attacks in the northern Nigerian city of Kano, which has been repeatedly hit by violence blamed on Islamists, authorities said. […] ’Two policemen lost their lives when some gunmen in a vehicle opened fire on their patrol van around 8:00 am today at Yanawaki area,’ police spokesman Magaji Majia told AFP.  He said another policeman was seriously injured in the attack, the latest in the city where Islamist extremist group Boko Haram has been active. Majia said no arrests were made as the gunmen fled after the attack.” (AFP, 17 January 2013)
 
“Two suspected Islamists and two civilians were killed on Thursday in a shootout between gunmen and soldiers in Nigeria's northern city of Kano, a military spokesman said.  A group of gunmen suspected to belong to the Boko Haram Islamist sect opened fire on a military checkpoint on the outskirts of Kano, leading to an hour-long shootout, Lieutenant Iweha Ikedichi told AFP.” (AFP, 17 January 2013)
 
“Nigeria gunmen have attacked the convoy of the prominent religious leader, the Emir of Kano.  The emir survived, but his driver and two guards were killed.  No-one has admitted the attack, but suspicion is bound to fall on the militant group Boko Haram, which has previously killed Muslim clerics.” (BBC, 19 January 2013)
 
“’We are shocked. They shot at him from all sides just like hunting animals in the bush,’ says Abbas Sanusi, the emir's senior counsel.  He says that they have no idea who might have been responsible for the attack. The words are chosen carefully. Even though many analysts suggest this was the work of the Islamist militant group popularly known as Boko Haram, palace officials do not draw this conclusion. It may be safer not to mention the Islamist militants at all.” (BBC, 7 February 2013)
 
“Two Nigerian soldiers were killed and five others seriously injured in a 19 January attack on a military detachment heading for deployment in Mali, as part of Nigeria's contribution to a UN-sanctioned African intervention force to reclaim northern Mali from Islamists, military officials told IRIN. […] On 20 January the Islamist group Jama'atu Ansarul Musilimina Fi Biladis Sudan (JAMBS) - “Vanguard for the Aid of Muslims in Black Africa” - claimed responsibility for the attack, which it said was in response to Nigeria's participation in the military intervention in Mali. JAMBS splintered from Boko Haram in June 2012 and is believed by some to have close ties to Islamist groups in North Africa and Mali.” (IRIN, 21 January 2013)
 
“Suspected Islamists have been blamed for the deaths of at least 23 people in separate attacks in north-eastern Nigeria. Witnesses say gunmen apparently targeted hunters selling bush meat in Damboa on Monday, killing 18 people. Another five people died on Tuesday when a group of men playing draughts was attacked in Kano. The militant group Boko Haram, which is fighting to create an Islamic state, has staged many attacks in Nigeria.” (BBC, 22 January 2013)
 
“Gunmen believed to be from Islamist extremist group Boko Haram have opened fire at a market in volatile northeastern Nigeria, killing 18 people, a local official said Tuesday. […] There were conflicting reasons given for the attack. According to Ahmed, there were claims that the Islamists were angry over the hunters selling meat such as pork forbidden in Islam. Other residents however spoke of hunters in the area recently banding together to form a local vigilante group in response to robberies by Boko Haram members, sparking a revenge attack from the Islamists. Hunters typically sell their game at the market in Damboa where the attack occurred.” (AFP, 22 January 2013)
 
“Attackers beheaded five people after storming into their homes on Wednesday in the Nigerian city of Maiduguri, the base of an insurgency by Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, residents said.” (AFP, 23 January 2013)
 
“Suspected militant Islamists have beheaded five people in Nigeria's north-eastern city of Maiduguri, a resident has told the BBC. […] At least 23 others have been killed in separate attacks in the north this week blamed on militants wanting to impose Islamic law on Nigeria.  The insurgency was launched by Boko Haram in Maiduguri in 2009, but a second militant group, Ansaru, emerged last year.  Last month, suspected militants slit the throats of at least 15 Christians near Maiduguri.” (BBC, 23 January 2013)
 
“Attackers killed eight people in a village in northern Nigeria's embattled Borno state, with at least some of the victims' throats slit, officials and residents said Monday. […] Gajiganna is roughly 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the state capital of Maiduguri, the base of Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, but it was not clear who was responsible for the latest violence.” (AFP, 28 January 2013)
 
FEBRUARY 2013
 
“Nigeria's military said it has killed 17 insurgents in an attack on two training camps belonging to the Boko Haram Islamist group.” (BBC, 1 February 2013)
 
“Three North Korean doctors have been killed in the north-eastern Nigerian state of Yobe, officials say.  Residents said they were killed during the night in the town of Potiskum. Two of them had their throats slit while the third was beheaded, they added. […] No-one has said they were behind the attack, but it happened in an area where the Islamist militant group, Boko Haram, has been active in recent years.” (BBC, 10 February 2013)
 
“Two Nigerian journalists have been charged in court over the killing of nine female polio vaccinators in northern Kano state on Friday. They were charged with conspiracy and inciting a disturbance. […] No group has said it carried out Friday's two separate attacks on the polio vaccinators. Some have accused Islamist militant group Boko Haram of the killings but it has not commented on the allegations.” (BBC, 12 February 2013)
 
“Nigerian militant group Ansaru says it kidnapped seven foreign workers in a raid that saw a security guard killed. […] Ansaru, which announced its existence in a video released in June 2012, is suspected of being an off-shoot of Boko Haram. The new movement has been listed by the UK government as a ‘terrorist organisation’ aligned with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.” (BBC, 18 February 2013)
 
“A blast targeting a military patrol vehicle in the Nigerian city where a radical Islamist group is based killed two civilians on Wednesday, the military said. […] Separately, the military said that hundreds of leaflets were distributed around the northeastern city overnight on Tuesday, warning that Boko Haram had not declared a ceasefire, as reported by some media.” (AFP, 20 February 2013)
  
“Gunmen on motorcycles have shot dead five people and injured several others in northeast Nigeria, the latest attack in the restive region, police said Saturday. [..] Gombe has seen a series of targeted shootings in recent months, with some blamed on Boko Haram Islamists, an extremist group based in the neighbouring state of Borno.” (AFP, 23 February 2013)
 
“Six people died and many others were injured when unknown gunmen attacked Aduwan Gida Village in the Zangon Kataf Local Government Area (LGA) of Southern Kaduna during the evening of 23 February. […] The Reverend Yunusa Nmadu, CEO of Christian Solidarity Worldwide-Nigeria (CSW-N), said, ‘It is unfortunate that after the announcement of a ceasefire by elements of Boko Haram, we are still experiencing attacks resembling their style of operations. We ask for continuing prayers for Nigeria, and urge churches to be vigilant with regard to security, particularly as the Easter period approaches.’” (CSW, 25 February 2013)
 
MARCH 2013
 
“Nigeria's military says it has killed 20 fighters from Islamist group Boko Haram in the north-eastern Borno state. An army spokesman said the militants were killed as they tried to seize military barracks in the village of Monguno. The attack was repelled.” (BBC, 3 March 2013)
 
“The leader of Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram rejected peace talks with the government in a video on Sunday, distancing himself from a purported commander who declared a ceasefire on behalf of the sect in January.” (Reuters - AlertNet, 4 March 2013)
 
“A Nigerian Islamist militant group's claims to have killed seven foreign hostages it seized last month are credible, Western governments say. […] In an online statement posted on Saturday, the militant group Ansaru said it had killed the captives.  Ansaru is suspected of being an offshoot of the Boko Haram network.” (BBC, 10 March 2013; Guardian, 10. März 2013)
 
“Ansaru, a splinter group independent from Boko Haram, the main terrorist group in northern Nigeria, claimed responsibility and announced on Saturday they had killed ‘all the seven Christian foreigners’. Experts on Islamist terrorism in the west African country said the killings were further evidence that Ansaru is focused on attacking foreign nationals in an attempt to internationalise a bloody internal conflict that has seen Boko Haram claim the lives of more than 1,500 Nigerians since 2009.” (Guardian, 10 March 2013)
 
“A series of blasts targeting three buses full of passengers in Nigeria's second city of Kano killed at least 20 people on Monday, a rescue official told AFP. […] While the official confirmed at least two explosions, residents have given figures of up to three, in what may have been a coordinated attack in a city repeatedly targeted by Islamist group Boko Haram.” (AFP, 18 March 2013)
 
“The number of people killed in a suicide car bomb attack at a bus stop in the Nigerian city of Kano on Monday has risen to at least 22, police say.” (BBC, 19 March 2013)
 
“At least 25 people died when gunmen attacked a prison, a police station, a bank and a bar in an eastern Nigerian town, police said. […] No group has said it carried out the attack but police said they suspected Islamist militants Boko Haram.” (BBC, 23 March 2013)
 
“Twenty-five people were killed in eastern Nigeria when attackers blasted a jail, a police station and a bank with bombs, machine-guns and rocket-propelled grenades, police said Saturday. […] Although he [Adamawa state police chief Mohammed Ibrahim] declined to say if the attackers were members of the Islamist Boko Harm sect, the raids resembled previous ones claimed by the sect in parts of the north.” (AFP, 24 March 2013)
 
“Three people, including a soldier, were injured Thursday in multiple blasts in three areas of Nigeria's restive city of Maiduguri, with one targeting a military patrol vehicle, the army said. […] JTF [Joint Task Force] said troops killed four suspected militants on Monday in Maiduguri, capital of Borno state and the main base of the Boko Harm Islamist sect whose insurgency is believed to have killed at least 3,000 people since 2009. The Nigerian forces had been combing the city for Boko Haram fighters suspected of involvement in attacks that the army said killed three civilians and left six soldiers wounded last week.” (AFP, 28 March 2013)
 
“Nigerian troops say they have killed 14 suspected members of the Islamist rebel group Boko Haram, in a raid on a building in the northern city of Kano. A soldier was killed in the raid, and a potential suicide bomber was arrested in a car laden with explosives, a military spokesman said.” (BBC, 31 March 2013)
 
APRIL 2013
 
“Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has set up a panel to look into the possibility of granting an amnesty to the Islamist militant group Boko Haram.  The move came after religious and political leaders said the military approach did not solve the violence.” (BBC, 5 April 2013)
 
“Eleven people have been killed in an attack in north-eastern Nigeria targeting the deputy governor of Adamawa state, police say. […] It was not immediately clear who carried out the attack. […] Islamist group Boko Haram is active in the region, though the state of Adamawa is also the scene of a political feud between members of the ruling PDP party.” (BBC, 6 April 2013)
 
“Suspected Islamist militants shot or hacked to death 11 people on Saturday in a northeast Nigerian village, including at a deputy governor's house, police said.” (Reuters - AlertNet, 7 April 2013)
 
“The Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram has rejected the idea of an amnesty.  Last week President Goodluck Jonathan asked a high level team to look into the possibility of granting the militants a pardon.” (BBC, 11 April 2013)
 
“Nigerian Islamists stormed a police station in the restive northeast on Thursday, sparking a shootout that left four officers and five insurgents dead, police said. […] ‘We killed five of them but they fled with the corpses. Unfortunately, we also lost four of our policemen,’ he added, labelling Boko Haram gunmen as the suspected culprits.” (AFP, 11 April 2013)
 
“Heavy fighting between Nigerian troops and suspected Islamist insurgents has killed 187 people, including scores of civilians, while massive blazes left nearly half the town destroyed, the Red Cross said Monday. The bloodshed that began Friday in the remote northeastern town of Baga also left 77 people injured and likely marks the single deadliest event in the insurgency of Boko Haram, the radical Islamist group blamed for scores of attacks in northern and central Nigeria since 2009.” (AFP, 22 April 2013)
 
 
SOURCES: (all links accessed at 29 April 2013)

This featured topic was prepared after researching solely on ecoi.net and within time constraints. It is meant to offer an overview on an issue and is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status, asylum or other form of international protection. Chronologies are not intended to be exhaustive. Every quotation comes from a document available on ecoi.net and is referred to with a hyperlink to the respective document on ecoi.net.