BACKGROUND INFORMATION
“The Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati Wal-Jihad, or People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet’s Teachings and Jihad (commonly referred to as Boko Haram, Hausa for “Western education is forbidden”), continued to commit violent acts in its quest to overthrow the Nigerian government and impose its own religious and political beliefs throughout the country, especially in the North” (
USDOS, 20 May 2013)
“Boko Haram, a militant group that espouses an extreme and violent interpretation of Islam, benefits from this culture of impunity and lawlessness as it exploits Muslim-Christian tensions to destabilize Nigeria. Boko Haram also justifies its attacks on churches by citing, among other things, state and federal government actions against Muslims.” (
USCIRF, 30 April 2013, p. 8)
“The group has primarily targeted police and other government security agents, Christians, and Muslims working for or accused of cooperating with the government.” (
HRW, 31 January 2013)
“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)
OVERVIEW
“Though latent for the better part of the past decade, since 2009 the group has waged a campaign of extremist, anti-government attacks across much of northern and central Nigeria. The insurgency killed over 550 people in 2011 in 115 separate attacks. In total, at least 2,800 deaths are at-tributable to Boko Haram’s violent and often rudimentary tactics; however, some reports suggest the death toll is closer to 4,000. In addition to targeting Nigerian Christians, government institutions and Muslims the group accuses of cooperating with the Nigerian government, the group coordinated an attack against the United Nations’ Abuja headquarters in August 2011, which killed 23 and wounded 81.” (
NATO Civil-Military Fusion Centre, 22 February 2013)
“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)
“More than 1,000 people were killed in attacks by Islamist armed group Boko Haram, which claimed responsibility for bombings and gun attacks across northern and central Nigeria. The group attacked police stations, military barracks, churches, school buildings and newspaper offices and killed Muslim and Christian clerics and worshippers, politicians and journalists, as well as police and soldiers.” (
AI, 23 May 2013)
“The militant sect Boko Haram perpetrated numerous killings, bomb and suicide bomb attacks, prison breaks, and kidnappings throughout the country. During the year the sect expanded its campaign of assaults and bombings from Borno, Bauchi, and Yobe states to Adamawa, Kano, Kaduna, Kogi, Niger, Plateau, Sokoto, and Taraba states. […] Government officials, civil society, and religious leaders on multiple occasions claimed to have initiated a dialogue with Boko Haram, but elements of the sect denied any involvement in such talks.” (
USDOS, 19 April 2013)
CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS
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 March 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)
“An attack Thursday in restive northern Nigeria where suspected Islamists stormed a police station and stole nearly $60,000 from a bank killed 20 insurgents and five officers, the local police chief said. ‘Five policemen and 20 gunmen have been confirmed dead when some Boko Haram Terrorist attacked police formations in Gashua town,’ the Yobe state police commissioner, Sanusi Rufai, told journalists Friday.” (
AFP, 26 April 2013)
MAY 2013
“Satellite images reveal that 2,275 homes were destroyed during a military raid to hunt down militant Islamists in the northern Nigerian town of Baga last month, a rights group has said.“ (
BBC, 1 May 2013)
“Fifty-five people have been killed in the north-east of Nigeria in co-ordinated attacks by the Boko Haram militant group, the Nigerian army says. It said 105 prisoners were freed in the pre-dawn raid in Bama, Borno state.” (
BBC, 7 May 2013)
“Around 15,000 children in Borno State, northeastern Nigeria, have stopped attending classes since February 2013, according to a Borno State Ministry of Education official who preferred anonymity, as Boko Haram extremists continue a wave of attacks on state schools. Most of the children are primary school students, according to the official. Thus far Boko Haram (BH) has burned or destroyed 50 of the state's 175 schools, he said. Teachers in the state confirmed the estimate.” (
IRIN, 14 May 2013)
“Nigeria's military on Wednesday announced the ‘massive’ deployment of troops to its restive northeast, after the president declared a state of emergency in areas where Islamist insurgents have seized territory.” (
AFP, 15 May 2013)
“Nigeria's military said Thursday that it was ready to launch air strikes against Boko Haram Islamists as several thousand troops moved to the remote northeast to retake territory seized by the insurgents.” (
AFP, 16 May 2013)
“Nigeria's military on Saturday imposed a 24-hour curfew in parts of a northeastern city as soldiers pressed on with a campaign against Boko Haram Islamists that has sent people fleeing from their homes.” (
AFP, 18 May 2013)
“The Nigerian military say Boko Haram militants in the north-east of the country are ‘in disarray’ and leaving the country in large numbers as a result of its offensive against them. In a statement, it said 14 enemy fighters had been killed and 20 apprehended since Saturday.” (
BBC, 19 May 2013)
“About 120 militant Islamists have been arrested in Nigeria's north-eastern city of Maiduguri, as they were organising the burial of a commander, an army spokesman has said.” (
BBC, 20 May 2013)
“Soldiers have sealed roads heading out of Maiduguri, blocking supply routes to remote towns where Boko Haram Islamists have seized power, residents said.” (
AFP, 20 May 2013)
“Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan has ordered the release of all women held in connection with ‘terrorist activity’, the defence ministry says. The decision was aimed at enhancing peace efforts in Nigeria, it added. The army is conducting an offensive in three states, where an emergency was declared last week to fight the militant Islamist group Boko Haram. The group had set the release of women and children as a condition for talks with the government.” (
BBC, 21 May 2013)
“Nigeria on Tuesday relaxed the curfew in Maiduguri, stronghold of the Boko Haram Islamist militant sect, three days after it was imposed, an AFP journalist in the city said.” (
IRIN, 21 May 2013)
“Tens of thousands of residents of northeastern Nigeria’s Borno State have fled their homes - thousands of them into neighbouring Niger and Cameroon - following airstrikes by Nigerian fighter jets on Boko Haram (BH) camps from 15 May. The attacks on BH camps in northern parts of Borno close to the borders with Chad, Niger and Cameroon followed the 14 May declaration of a state of emergency by Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan in the northeastern states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa.” (
IRIN, 22 May 2013)
“The UN refugee agency on Wednesday voiced concern about the safety and welfare of people displaced in northern Nigeria by the activities of the militant Boko Haram group and the government's response.” (
UNHCR, 29 May 2013)
JUNE 2013
“Nigeria has formally declared the Boko Haram Islamist sect and Ansaru, its suspected offshot, ‘terrorist’ groups and issued a law to ban them, a presidential statement said on Tuesday. […] The law prescribes a prison term of ‘not less than 20 years’ for anybody who solicits or gives any form of support, including financial and logistics, to the groups.” (
AFP, 4 June 2013)
“Residents in the three Nigerian states where a state of emergency has been declared are living in fear as food prices soar and government soldiers conduct door to door campaigns to root out terrorists. The Joint Military Task Force has been deployed to the three northern states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, where on May 14 President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency.” (
IPS, 7 June 2013)
“Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamists have stormed a neighbourhood in the restive city of Maiduguri, killing at least 11 people with weapons hidden in a coffin, local residents said Monday.“ (
AFP, 10 June 2013)
“The crisis in northeastern Nigeria has forced more than 6,000 mainly women, children and elderly people to seek safety in neighbouring Niger. Those UNCHR has spoken to say they escaped for fear of being caught in the government-led crackdown on insurgents linked to the Boko Haram sect, particularly in the Baga area of northern Nigeria, close to the Niger border.“ (
UNHCR, 11 June 2013)
“With mobile phone signals shut down since 15 May in large parts of three northeastern states following a military offensive against Boko Haram (BH) Islamists, anxious residents say the sick are cut off from medical help, commercial supplies are dwindling and food prices rising.“ (
IRIN, 11 June 2013)
“Suspected Islamist extremists have attacked a secondary school and military checkpoint in Nigeria's northeast, leaving 11 people dead including seven students, the military said Monday. Details were sketchy and the information could not be independently confirmed. Mobile phone lines have been cut in much of the northeast since the start of a military offensive targeting Islamist extremist group Boko Haram on May 15 and access to the area is limited.“ (
AFP, 17 June 2013)
“The UN refugee agency said on Tuesday the on-going crisis in northeastern Nigeria's Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe States is causing new arrivals of refugees in Niger, and now in Cameroon.“ (
UNHCR, 18 June 2013)
“Suspected Islamists shot dead nine students as they sat an exam in an attack on a private school in Maiduguri, northeast Nigeria, local people said Tuesday.“ (
AFP, 19 June 2013)
“Nigeria's military has banned satellite phones in a northern state to hinder communication by Islamist militants following recent attacks. Mobile phone signals have already been blocked in Borno state, after a state of emergency was declared last month. An army spokesman said anyone found with a satellite phone or accessories would be arrested.“ (
BBC, 20 June 2013)
“Youths in northern Nigeria’s Borno State, where many members of the radical Islamist group Boko Haram (BH) have been arrested in recent weeks, are increasingly joining vigilante gangs to pass on the identity of BH members to the military-police Joint Task Force (JTF) following a string of deadly attacks on schools, according to vigilante groups and residents of Borno State capital, Maiduguri.“ (
IRIN, 27 June 2013)
JULY 2013
“Gunmen believed to be Boko Haram Islamists attacked a secondary school in Nigeria's restive northeast on Saturday, killing 42 people, many of whom were students, a medical worker and residents said Saturday. But a military spokesman said 20 students and one teacher were killed in the dawn attack at Yobe state.” (
AFP, 6 July 2013)
“Secondary schools have been ordered to close across Nigeria's north-eastern state of Yobe after a massacre in which suspected Islamist extremists killed 22 students and torched their school. Yobe Governor Ibrahim Gaidam condemned as ‘cold-blooded murder’ Saturday's attack on the Mamudo boarding school. Nigeria blamed Islamist militant group Boko Haram - which targeted two schools in the region in June - for the attack.” (
BBC, 7 July 2013)
“The Yobe State authorities in northeastern Nigeria have closed all schools following the 6 July Boko Haram (BH) attack on a secondary school in Mamudo which killed 41 students and a teacher. […] The 6 July raid was thought to be a reprisal attack following a 4 July military raid on a BH camp, according to security sources, medics and local residents. “ (
IRIN, 8 July 2013)
“But while military officials say Yobe state is stable, schools remain closed after gunmen slaughtered nearly 30 children at a secondary school.“ (
VOA, 22 July 2013)
“Four alleged members of the Islamist Boko Haram group have been sentenced to life for their role in bomb attacks that killed 19 people. They were found guilty of masterminding and carrying out attacks on an electoral commission office and a church last year. These are the heaviest sentences given to any Boko Haram suspects.“ (
BBC, 9 July 2013)
“A Nigerian minister tasked with talking to Boko Haram claimed Wednesday that he was in ceasefire negotiations with the Islamist insurgents, but doubts persisted that a peace pact could be secured. There have been previous claims of peace talks between the government and the militants, but the negotiations, if they did indeed occur, failed to quell the violence. Nigeria's government and military have regularly been accused of spreading false information regarding the insurgency.“ (
AFP, 10 July 2013)
“Nigeria's military on Sunday claimed the rescue of women and children hostages from a Boko Haram Islamist stronghold, saying troops killed several insurgents during recent gun battles in the area. The Bulabulin Nganaram area of the northeastern city of Maiduguri, where the fighting occurred, is considered an enclave of the radical Islamist group.“ (
AFP, 15 July 2013)
“Vigilante groups have formed in the northern Nigerian city of Maiduguri to fight the militant Islamist group Boko Haram, a move welcomed by the military as it battles to quell the insurgency, as the BBC's Will Ross reports.“ (
BBC, 24 July 2013)
“At least 20 villagers in Nigeria have been killed after clashes between a vigilante force and militant Islamists, the army and vigilantes have said. According to the pro-government vigilantes, they stormed the northern village of Dawashe on Saturday to track down militants who retaliated with heavy firepower, killing civilians.“ (
BBC, 29 July 2013)
“Bomb blasts that ripped through a mainly Christian area of the largest city in northern Nigeria have killed 24 people, an official said Tuesday, shattering a recent lull in insurgent attacks there. At least four explosions were heard Monday night around outdoor bars in the Sabon Gari area of Kano, causing panic and sending clouds of smoke and dust into the air, residents said.“ (
AFP, 30 July 2013)
“At least 28 are people have been killed in a series of explosions that targeted bars in the northern Nigerian city of Kano, a hospital source tells the BBC. Witnesses said the blasts shook a Christian neighbourhood that has previously been attacked by militants from the Islamist group Boko Haram.“ (
BBC, 30 July 2013)
AUGUST 2013
“Clashes between Nigeria's military and Islamist extremist group Boko Haram in two northeastern towns have left at least 35 people dead, most of them insurgents, the army said on Monday. A clash in the town of Bama sparked by an attack on a police base ‘led to the death of one policeman and 17 Boko Haram terrorists,’ a military statement said.“ (
AFP, 5 August 2013)
“Gunfire and explosions shook one northeastern Nigerian town Tuesday while soldiers slapped a round-the-clock curfew on another in the region hit by waves of insurgent attacks, the military and residents said. […] In Potiskum, residents said soldiers were conducting house-to-house searches in two neighbourhoods and word had spread in the town that troops were looking for high-profile members of Islamist extremist group Boko Haram.“ (
AFP, 6 August 2013)
“At least 44 worshippers have been shot dead at a mosque in north-eastern Nigeria, officials in Borno state say. […] The attack occurred in the town of Konduga, 35km (22 miles) from the state capital, Maiduguri. The gunmen are suspected of being from the Islamist group Boko Haram, which has killed thousands since 2009. Twelve further civilians were killed at Ngom village, closer to Maiduguri, reports say.“ (
BBC, 13 August 2013)
“At least 50 civilians were killed and dozens more injured in a series of weekend attacks in north-eastern Nigeria by the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram.” (
CSW, 14 August 2013)
“Nigeria's military has said it has killed the second-in-command of the Islamist militant group Boko Haram. His death earlier in the month had been ‘confirmed by other arrested terrorists’, a military spokesman, Brig Gen Chris Olukolade said. Momodu Bama, also known by his alias ‘Abu Saad’, was a specialist in manning anti-aircraft guns, he said.“ (
BBC, 14 August 2013)
“Suspected Islamic militants have attacked a town in north-eastern Nigeria, killing at least 11 people, reports say. […] The area is a stronghold of the Boko Haram militant group.” (
BBC, 16 August 2013)
SOURCES: (all links accessed at 22 August 2013)
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AFP - Agence France-Presse: Four dead in attack on police station in north Nigeria, 3 January 2013 (published by ReliefWeb)
http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/four-dead-attack-police-station-north-nigeria
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AFP - Agence France-Presse: Gunmen in Nigeria fire on Muslim worshippers, kill three, 7 January 2013 (published by ReliefWeb)
http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/gunmen-nigeria-fire-muslim-worshippers-kill-three
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AFP - Agence France-Presse: Gunmen kill 4 policemen in attacks in Nigeria's Kano, 15 January 2013 (published by ReliefWeb)
http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/gunmen-kill-4-policemen-attacks-nigerias-kano
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AFP - Agence France-Presse: Four killed as Nigerian troops repel 'Islamist' attack, 17 January 2013 (published by ReliefWeb)
http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/four-killed-nigerian-troops-repel-islamist-attack
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AFP - Agence France-Presse: Suspected Islamist gunmen kill 18 at Nigerian market, 22 January 2013 (published by ReliefWeb)
http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/suspected-islamist-gunmen-kill-18-nigerian-market
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AFP - Agence France-Presse: Attackers behead five in northeast Nigeria, 23 January 2013 (published by ReliefWeb)
http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/attackers-behead-five-northeast-nigeria
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AFP - Agence France-Presse: Attackers kill eight in restive northeast Nigeria, 28 January 2013 (published by ReliefWeb)
http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/attackers-kill-eight-restive-northeast-nigeria
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AFP - Agence France-Presse: Two dead after blast in restive northeast Nigeria, 20 February 2013 (published by ReliefWeb)
http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/two-dead-after-blast-restive-northeast-nigeria
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AFP - Agence France-Presse: Gunmen kill 5 in restive northeast Nigeria: police, 23 February 2013 (published by ReliefWeb)
http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/gunmen-kill-5-restive-northeast-nigeria-police
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AFP - Agence France-Presse: 25 killed in series of attacks in east Nigeria: police, 24 March 2013 (published by ReliefWeb)
http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/25-killed-series-attacks-east-nigeria-police
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AFP - Agence France-Presse: Blasts injure three in Nigerian restive city: army, 28 March 2013 (published by ReliefWeb)
http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/blasts-injure-three-nigerian-restive-city-army
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AFP - Agence France-Presse: Blasts at Nigeria bus park kill at least 20, 18 March 2013 (published by ReliefWeb)
http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/blasts-nigeria-bus-park-kill-least-20
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AFP - Agence France-Presse: Nine killed in shootout at northern Nigeria police station, 11 April 2013 (published by ReliefWeb)
http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/nine-killed-shootout-northern-nigeria-police-station
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AFP - Agence France-Presse: 'Dozens' killed in Nigeria gun battles, 22 April 2013 (published by ReliefWeb)
http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/dozens-killed-nigeria-gun-battles
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AFP - Agence France-Presse: 25 dead in fresh northern Nigeria violence, 26 April 2013 (published by ReliefWeb)
http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/25-dead-fresh-northern-nigeria-violence
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AFP - Agence France-Presse: Survivors of Nigeria bloodbath still in hiding, 26 April 2013 (published by ReliefWeb)
http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/survivors-nigeria-bloodbath-still-hiding
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AFP - Agence France-Presse: Nigerian Islamists attack town, kill 55, 7 May 2013 (published by ReliefWeb)
http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/nigerian-islamists-attack-town-kill-55-army
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AFP - Agence France-Presse: 'Massive' troop deployment in Nigeria's restive northeast, 15 May 2013 (published by ReliefWeb)
http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/massive-troop-deployment-nigerias-restive-northeast
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AFP - Agence France-Presse: Nigeria set for air strikes against Islamists, 16 May 2013 (published by ReliefWeb)
http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/nigeria-set-air-strikes-against-islamists
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AFP - Agence France-Presse: Nigeria imposes curfew in campaign against Islamists, 18 May 2013 (published by ReliefWeb)
http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/nigeria-imposes-curfew-campaign-against-islamists
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AFP - Agence France-Presse: Nigeria offensive on Islamists escalates in key city, 20 May 2013 (published by ReliefWeb)
http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/nigeria-offensive-islamists-escalates-key-city
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AFP - Agence France-Presse: Nigeria relaxes curfew in Islamist stronghold of Maiduguri, 21 May 2013 (published by ReliefWeb)
http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/nigeria-relaxes-curfew-islamist-stronghold-maiduguri
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AFP - Agence France-Presse: Nigeria says it has retaken five Islamist strongholds, 20 May 2013 (published by ReliefWeb)
http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/nigeria-says-it-has-retaken-five-islamist-strongholds
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AFP - Agence France-Presse: Boko Haram, Ansaru are 'terrorist' groups: Nigeria leader, 4 June 2013 (published by ReliefWeb)
http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/boko-haram-ansaru-are-terrorist-groups-nigeria-leader
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AFP - Agence France-Presse: 11 killed in Nigeria Islamists' fake funeral attack, 10 June 2013 (published by ReliefWeb)
http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/11-killed-nigeria-islamists-fake-funeral-attack
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AFP - Agence France-Presse: 11 dead in attack on school, soldiers, 17 June 2013 (published by ReliefWeb)
http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/11-dead-attack-school-soldiers-nigerian-military
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AFP - Agence France-Presse: Nine students killed in attack on Nigeria school: residents, 19 June 2013 (published by ReliefWeb)
http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/nine-students-killed-attack-nigeria-school-residents
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AFP - Agence France-Presse: Gunmen kill 42 in school attack in Nigeria, 6 July 2013 (published by ReliefWeb)
http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/gunmen-kill-42-school-attack-nigeria
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AFP - Agence France-Presse: Nigeria says in peace talks with Boko Haram Islamists amid doubts, 10 July 2013 (published by ReliefWeb)
http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/nigeria-says-peace-talks-boko-haram-islamists-amid-doubts
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AFP - Agence France-Presse: Nigeria claims rescue of women, children held by Boko Haram, 15 July 2013 (published by ReliefWeb)
http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/nigeria-claims-rescue-women-children-held-boko-haram
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AFP - Agence France-Presse: Bombs kill 24 in mainly Christian area of north Nigeria, 30 July 2013 (published by ReliefWeb)
http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/bombs-kill-24-mainly-christian-area-north-nigeria
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AFP - Agence France-Presse: Clashes between military, insurgents kill 35 in north Nigeria, 5 August 2013 (published by ReliefWeb)
http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/clashes-between-military-insurgents-kill-35-north-nigeria
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AFP - Agence France-Presse: Gunfire, round-the-clock curfew in restive Nigerian region, 6 August 2013 (published by ReliefWeb)
http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/gunfire-round-clock-curfew-restive-nigerian-region
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AI - Amnesty International: Amnesty International Report 2013 - The State of the World's Human Rights - Nigeria, 23 May 2013
http://www.amnesty.org/en/region/nigeria/report-2013
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BBC News: Nigeria attack: Song police station burnt down, 3 January 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20897659
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BBC News: Nigeria 'arrests Boko Haram militant', 14 January 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21011340
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BBC News: Nigeria: Gunmen attack Kano emir's convoy, 19 January 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21103322
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BBC News: Nigeria: Kano reels after emir attack, 7 February 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21340480
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BBC News: Boko Haram militants suspected of deadly attacks in Nigeria, 22 Jänner 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21152122
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BBC News: Nigerian militants suspected of Maiduguri beheadings, 23 January 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21162787
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BBC News: Boko Haram crisis: Nigeria raids 'kill 17 militants', 1 February 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21299327
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BBC News: Foreign doctors killed in north-eastern Nigeria, 10 February 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21400330
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BBC News: Nigeria Wazobia FM journalists held over polio deaths, 12 February 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21425923
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BBC News: Nigeria Islamists Ansaru claim Bauchi Setraco seizures, 18 February 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21497044
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BBC News: Nigeria army 'kills 20 Islamists', 3 March 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21649023
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BBC News: Nigerian hostage deaths: Ansaru claims backed, 10 March 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21734036
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BBC News: Kano blast: Nigeria bus station bomb toll rises, 19 March 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21845402
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BBC News: Nigerian town of Ganye hit by deadly attacks, 23 March 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21914274
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BBC News: Nigerian troops 'kill 14 Boko Haram militants' in Kano, 31 March 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21989075
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BBC News: Nigeria moots amnesty for Boko Haram Islamist rebels, 5 April 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-22042352
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BBC News: Nigerian politician targeted in deadly Adamawa attack, 6 April 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-22056195
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BBC News: Nigeria's Boko Haram rejects Jonathan's amnesty idea, 11 April 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-22105476BBC News: Baga raid: Satellite images 'show Nigeria army abuse', 1 May 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-22366016
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BBC News: Nigeria: 'Many dead in Boko Haram raid' in Borno state, 7 May 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-22444417
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BBC News: Nigeria: Boko Haram Islamists 'arrested' in Maiduguri, 20 May 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-22602736
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BBC News: Boko Haram crisis Nigeria to free women, 21 May 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-22618420
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BBC News: Nigeria: Boko Haram in disarray, says army, 19 May 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-22587901
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BBC News: Nigeria army says crackdown to go on, 19 May 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-22584765
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BBC News: Nigeria army imposes curfew in Maiduguri, 18 May 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-22581831
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BBC News: Nigerian army bans satellite phones in Borno, 20 June 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-22984219
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BBC News: Nigeria school massacre: Yobe secondary schools closed, 7 July 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-23221237
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BBC News: Nigeria jails 'Boko Haram' militants for life, 9 July 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-23245702
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BBC News: Nigeria's vigilantes take on Boko Haram, 24 July 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-23409387
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BBC News: Nigeria vigilantes in deadly Boko Haram clashes, 29 July 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-23490843
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BBC News: Nigeria's Kano city hit by blasts targeting bars, 30 July 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-23498757
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BBC News: Nigeria unrest: 'Boko Haram' gunmen kill 44 at mosque, 13 August 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-23676872
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BBC News: Nigerian troops 'kill Boko Haram commander Momodu Bama', 14 August 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-23704048
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BBC News: Nigeria unrest: 'Boko Haram' in deadly attack on Damboa, 16 August 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-23736053
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CSW - Christian Solidarity Worldwide: Nigeria: Sixteen die in weekend attacks on mourners in Plateau and Kaduna States, 25 February 2013
http://dynamic.csw.org.uk/article.asp?t=press&id=1498&search=
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CSW - Christian Solidarity Worldwide: Weekend attacks in north-east Nigeria claim at least 50 lives, 14 August 2013
http://dynamic.csw.org.uk/article.asp?t=press&id=1563&search=
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Guardian: British hostage 'likely to have been killed' in Nigeria, says William Hague, 10 March 2013
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/10/nigerian-islamists-claim-foreign-hostages-killed
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HRW - Human Rights Watch: World Report 2013 - Nigeria, 31 January 2013 (available on ecoi.net)
http://www.ecoi.net/local_link/238819/361831_de.html
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IPS - Inter Press Service - News Agency: Communication Blackout, Rights Abuses in Nigeria’s Emergency States, 7 June 2013
http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/06/communication-blackout-rights-abuses-in-nigerias-emergency-states/
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IRIN - Integrated Regional Information Network: Islamists kill Nigerian soldiers heading to Mali, 21 January 2013 (available on ecoi.net)
https://www.ecoi.net/local_link/236256/345222_en.html
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IRIN - Integrated Regional Information Network: Displaced still homeless after clashes in Baga, Nigeria, 7 May 2013 (available on ecoi.net)
http://www.ecoi.net/local_link/246531/370070_de.html
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IRIN - Integrated Regional Information Network: Boko Haram attacks hit school attendance in Borno State, 14 May 2013 (available on ecoi.net)
http://www.ecoi.net/local_link/247421/371006_de.html
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IRIN - Integrated Regional Information Network: Analysis: Nigerians on the run as military combat Boko Haram, 22 May 2013 (available on ecoi.net)
http://www.ecoi.net/local_link/247768/371362_de.html
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IRIN - Integrated Regional Information Network: Military’s shutdown of NE Nigeria telecoms disrupts trade, 11 June 2013 (verfügbar auf ecoi.net)
http://www.ecoi.net/local_link/250012/373731_de.html
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IRIN - Integrated Regional Information Network: Nigeria school attacks spur vigilante groups, 27 June 2013 (verfügbar auf ecoi.net)
http://www.ecoi.net/local_link/251422/375767_de.html
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IRIN - Integrated Regional Information Network: School closures in northeastern Nigeria after killings, 8 July 2013 (verfügbar auf ecoi.net)
http://www.ecoi.net/local_link/252324/376702_de.html
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Jamestown Foundation: Ansaru: A Profile of Nigeria's Newest Jihadist Movement; Terrorism Monitor Volume: 11 Issue: 1, 10 January 2013 (available on ecoi.net)
https://www.ecoi.net/local_link/237324/346342_en.html
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NATO Civil-Military Fusion Centre: The Boko Haram Insurgency in Nigeria, 22 February 2013 (published by ReliefWeb)
http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/20130220 Boko Haram in Nigeria.pdf
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Reuters - AlertNet: Nigerian Islamist leader rejects peace talks in video, 4 March 2013 (veröffentlicht von Reuters)
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/nigerian-islamist-leader-rejects-peace-talks-in-video/
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Reuters - AlertNet: Suspected Islamists kill 11 in northeast Nigeria raid, 7 April 2013 (published by ReliefWeb)
http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/suspected-islamists-kill-11-northeast-nigeria-raid
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UNHCR - UN High Commissioner for Refugees: UNHCR concerned about displace Nigerians, calls on neighbouring countries to keep borders open, 29 May 2013 (available on ecoi.net)
http://www.ecoi.net/local_link/248815/372474_de.html
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UNHCR - UN High Commissioner for Refugees: Nigeria's crisis sees more than 6000 people displaced into neighbouring countries, 11 June 2013 (verfügbar auf ecoi.net)
http://www.ecoi.net/local_link/250532/374604_de.html
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UNHCR - UN High Commissioner for Refugees: NE Nigeria insecurity sees refugee outflows spreading to Cameroon, 18 June 2013 (verfügbar auf ecoi.net)
http://www.ecoi.net/local_link/250556/374630_de.html
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USCIRF - US Commission on International Religious Freedom: 2013 Annual Report of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, 30 April 2013
http://www.uscirf.gov/images/2013%20USCIRF%20Annual%20Report%20%282%29.pdf
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USDOS - US Department of State: Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2012 - Nigeria, 19 April 2013 (available on ecoi.net)
http://www.ecoi.net/local_link/245102/368550_de.html
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USDOS - US Department of State: 2012 International Religious Freedom Report - Nigeria, 20 May 2013 (available on ecoi.net)
http://www.ecoi.net/local_link/247445/371030_de.html
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VOA - Voice of America: Residents in Northern Nigeria Rebuild Lives, Despite Fears, 22 July 2013 (published by ReliefWeb)
http://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/residents-northern-nigeria-rebuild-lives-despite-fears
