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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 2:54 am
Time: 2:54 am
Results for terrorists (nigeria)
4 results foundAuthor: Blanchard, Lauren Ploch Title: Nigeria's Boko Haram: Frequently Asked Questions Summary: Boko Haram, a violent Nigerian Islamist movement, has grown increasingly active and deadly in its attacks against state and civilian targets in recent years, drawing on a narrative of resentment and vengeance for state abuses to elicit recruits and sympathizers. The group's April 2014 abduction of almost 300 schoolgirls has drawn international attention, including from the Obama Administration and Members of Congress. Periodic attacks against foreign targets in the region and growing evidence of ties to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), a regional terrorist network affiliated with Al Qaeda, have also raised the concern of U.S. policymakers. The State Department named several individuals linked to Boko Haram, including its leader, Abubakar Shekau, as Specially Designated Global Terrorists in 2012, and Boko Haram was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) by the U.S. State Department in November 2013. The Obama Administration does not currently consider Boko Haram to be an affiliate of Al Qaeda. More than 4,000 people are estimated to have been killed in Boko Haram-related violence, making it one of the deadliest terrorist groups in the world. U.N. and Nigerian officials report that more than 6 million Nigerians have been affected by the conflict between Boko Haram and the Nigerian government, and more than 300,000 have been displaced. The group has focused on a wide range of targets, but civilians in the impoverished, predominately Muslim northeast have borne the brunt of the violence. Nigeria's heavy-handed response to Boko Haram's insurgent and terrorist operations has also taken a toll on civilians and complicated U.S. efforts to pursue greater counterterrorism cooperation with the Nigerian government, in spite of shared concerns about Boko Haram and its ties to regional and international terrorist groups and operatives. Coordination on counterterrorism efforts has also been hampered at times by a lack of cooperation from Nigerian officials. U.S. policy toward Boko Haram reflects both the Administration's perception of the threat the group poses and the strategic importance of the U.S. relationship with Nigeria. At this point, Boko Haram appears to pose a threat primarily to stability in northern Nigeria, and potentially to surrounding areas in neighboring countries. Some of Boko Haram's attacks have targeted Christian communities in the north, threatening to fuel existing religious tensions in the country. The group also poses a threat to international targets, including Western citizens, in the region. The Nigerian government has struggled to respond to the growing threat posed by Boko Haram. Multiple factors have constrained the Nigerian security force response, notably security sector corruption and mismanagement. By many accounts, Nigerian troops are not adequately resourced or equipped to counter the insurgency. The government has been criticized in domestic and international press reports for what has been widely perceived as a slow response to the abduction of the schoolgirls in April, and to offers of international assistance in support of the investigation and possible rescue efforts. To date, it remains unclear to what extent Nigerian officials are cooperating with foreign advisors and experts, including those from the United States. Details: Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 2014. 23p. Source: CRS Report: Internet Resource: Accessed June 9, 2014 at http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R43558.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Nigeria URL: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R43558.pdf Shelf Number: 132425 Keywords: Boko Haram (Nigeria)Terrorist OrganizationsTerrorists (Nigeria) |
Author: Walker, Andrew Title: What Is Boko Haram? Summary: 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. This report addresses the questions stemming from these narratives and suggests how the group can be contained. The report is based on the author's extensive research and reporting on Boko Haram. In March 2011, he conducted an interview with a senior member of the group in the city of Maiduguri, Nigeria, the center of Boko Haram's area of influence. The report also draws on interviews with Nigerian journalists who have covered the group (and who asked to remain anonymous in this report) and on information provided to the author by other researchers working on Boko Haram. Details: Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace, 2012. 16p. Source: Internet Resource: Special Report 308: Accessed July 14, 2014 at: http://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/SR308.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Nigeria URL: http://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/SR308.pdf Shelf Number: 132605 Keywords: Boko Haram (Nigeria) Extremist GroupsExtremist ViolenceRadical GroupsTerrorist OrganizationsTerrorists (Nigeria) |
Author: Onuoha, Freedom C. Title: Why Do Youth Join Boko Haram? Summary: Summary - Since Nigeria's return to democracy in May 1999, armed nonstate groups have significantly undermined the country's internal security environment, largely using young men as foot soldiers. Among these groups, Boko Haram has grown to become a serious national, regional, and international concern. Estimates of the death toll from Boko Haram attacks since 2009 range as high as ten thousand fatalities. With Boko Haram and other groups seemingly gaining in strength, questions arise as to why young men join them in the first place and what the government and other actors can do to prevent it. - Surveys, interviews, and focus groups conducted in Nigeria in 2013 suggest that poverty,unemployment, illiteracy, and weak family structures make or contribute to making young men vulnerable to radicalization. Itinerant preachers capitalize on the situation by preaching an extreme version of religious teachings and conveying a narrative of the government as weak and corrupt. Armed groups such as Boko Haram can then recruit and train youth for activities ranging from errand running to suicide bombings. - To weaken the armed groups' abilities to radicalize and recruit young men, the Nigerian government at all levels, perhaps with support from interested international actors, could institute monitoring and regulation of religious preaching; strengthen education, job training, and job creation programs; design robust programs to aid destitute children; promote peace education; and embark on an anticorruption campaign. Addressing the conditions that make it possible for insurgents to recruit young men in Nigeria can significantly diminish the strength of the insurgency, if not eliminate it altogether. Details: Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace, 2014. 12p. Source: Internet Resource: Special Report 348: Accessed July 28, 2014 at: http://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/SR348-Why_do_Youth_Join_Boko_Haram.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Nigeria URL: http://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/SR348-Why_do_Youth_Join_Boko_Haram.pdf Shelf Number: 132797 Keywords: At-Risk YouthBoko Haram (Nigeria) Extremist GroupsRadical Groups Terrorist Organizations Terrorist Recruitment Terrorists (Nigeria) |
Author: CLEEN Foundation Title: Youths, Radicalisation and Affiliation with Insurgent Groups in Northern Nigeria Summary: The violent activities of the Boko Haram sect in Nigeria, which draws its members largely from the youth, have underpinned growing concern over youth radicalization and religious extremism in Northern Nigeria. Radicalisation as it is understood here entails the process by which an individual or group transits from a state of passive reception of revolutionary, militant or extremist views, ideas and beliefs to active pursuit of the ideals of such views, ideas and beliefs, especially through supporting, promoting or adopting violence as a means to achieving such intentions. It is such transition that underlies violent extremism or terrorism. Against this backdrop, this study examined the reason young Nigerians are inclined to being part of insurgent groups, particularly Boko Haram. The aim of the study was to provide a better understanding of the underlying drivers of radicalisation in Northern Nigeria, and proffer alternative approaches to addressing the crisis. The specific objectives of the study were to: Provide an empirical understanding and assessment of the push and pull factors between youth, radicalisation and affiliation with insurgent groups in the northern part of Nigeria; Identify the patterns, prevalence and potential threats of youth radicalization to the security situation in Northern Nigeria; and Proffer actionable recommendations on how to tackle the root causes of the crisis. The study gathered evidence of the drivers of radicalisation in Northern Nigeria through a combination of desk review of secondary materials such as media reports, databases, policy reports, and academic literature, and primary research involving the conduct of key informant interviews, administration of questionnaires and focus group discussions. Commissioned consultants and researchers conducted the field study in two towns in six states in Northern Nigeria - Borno, Gombe, Kaduna, Kano, Sokoto, and Yobe - selected for the study. It found that ignorance of the true teachings of the religion (Islam) provides the most important source through which youths acquire radical or distorted views of religion, often propagated by roaming (independent) preachers. Furthermore, economic (poverty and unemployment) as well as socio-cultural factors (poor parental upbringing or neglect of children) underpin young people's vulnerability to recruitment and radicalisation by extremist or terrorist groups. The study also found that the excesses of security forces are not a 'major' factor in youth radicalisation, contrary to the popular assumption in some quarters. However, obvious shortcomings of security forces deployed in counter Boko Haram operations need to be urgently addressed by the appropriate authorities. In order to effectively respond to the problem of youth radicalisation and extremism in Northern Nigeria, the study recommended, among others, better monitoring and regulation of religious preaching in Nigeria; creation of job opportunities for the youth; delivery of robust rehabilitation programmes for destitute children; expansion of access to quality education; and promotion of peace education. In view of some limitations encountered, the study concluded that there was still much to be done in unpacking the intricacies of youth radicalisation, particularly in relation to the specificities of each state where the phenomenon of radicalisation has and is taking place in Northern Nigeria. Notwithstanding, the utility of the study lies in the fact that it has taken the very important first step towards understanding the key drivers of youth radicalisation and extremism in Northern Nigeria through an empirical research. The distance it has not covered should inform further action on the part of government, civil society groups and academics in the quest to find the drivers of, and sustainable solutions to, growing radicalisation and extremism in Nigeria. Details: Lagos: CLEEN Foundation, 2014. 117p. Source: Internet Resource: Monograph Series, No. 20: Accessed July 28, 2014 at: http://cleen.org/Youths,%20Radicalisation%20and%20Affiliation%20with%20Insurgent%20Groups%20in%20Northern%20Nigeria.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Nigeria URL: http://cleen.org/Youths,%20Radicalisation%20and%20Affiliation%20with%20Insurgent%20Groups%20in%20Northern%20Nigeria.pdf Shelf Number: 132802 Keywords: At-Risk Youth Boko Haram (Nigeria) Extremist Groups Radical Groups RadicalizationReligionTerrorist Organizations Terrorists (Nigeria) |