Caroline Varin - Boko Haram and the War on Terror

Boko Haram and the
War on Terror

CAROLINE VARIN

Praeger Security International

Copyright 2016 by Caroline Varin

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Varin, Caroline, author.

Title: Boko Haram and the war on terror / Caroline Varin.

Description: Santa Barbara, California : Praeger, 2016. | Series: Praeger security international | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016017828 (print) | LCCN 2016030219 (ebook) | ISBN 9781440844102 (hardback : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781440844119 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Boko Haram. | TerrorismPreventionNigeria. | TerrorismPreventionAfrica.

Classification: LCC HV6433.N62 B658 2016 (print) | LCC HV6433.N62 (ebook) | DDC 363.32509669dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016017828

ISBN: 9781440844102

EISBN: 9781440844119

20 19 18 17 161 2 3 4 5

This book is also available as an eBook.

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Pour maman
For giving me Africa, and everything else.

Many people contributed to the creation of this book, and deserve my heartfelt thanks. So in no particular order.

To Daniel, Claire, Chris, and Julien for being my first readers and best friends.

Mom and dad, my biggest critics and supporters.

Thank you to Steve Catalano at Praeger for believing in this project and encouraging me.

To my incredible research assistant, Larissa Jaeger, thank you for all your work and the great discussions on Nigeria. Ive thoroughly enjoyed working with you.

To everyone in Nigeria who inspired me:

Akmal and your amazing mom. Buhari Shehu for being a great guide and support. To Ukoha, Ola Bisoye Dosunmu, Chinedu, Saratu, and Nengak, thank you for showing me the impact individuals can have and keep making the difference in the world! Freedom, for giving me such a warm welcome and sharing your passion and knowledge of your country. Ismaeel, your dreams are inspiring; I look forward to seeing them become reality. Dr. Willie Eselebor and Dr. Fatima Akilu, thank you for your time and for supporting this young researcher!

Thank you Poul for your help and kindness. I loved meeting you and your family. Pascal, for your honest and privileged insight. Daniel M., and Julia P., for getting the message across to everyone and sharing your experience with me. Becky, thank you for giving me your time with me despite the crush. Omeni, for your feedback and encouragements. To Kouame and Aldo, thank you for your help and institutional support. Jesper, for the contacts and brainstorming in the early days; you cant imagine how helpful that was!

To Alex Perry and Virginia Comolli, thank you for generously sharing your experience and contacts in Nigeria, and for setting the scene for the rest of us.

To Christopher Coker, for being an incredible mentor.

And Chris Alden and Alvaro Mendez, at the Global South Unit, thank you for sharing your energy and creativity with meits wonderful to be a part of the GSU!

To my coworkersPhilip, Nkechi, Alex, Majeks, and Sabrinafor pushing me forward with my projects day in day out.

To my friends who have been there for me every day, Michele and Guy, Aida, Philippe, Seb, Will, Henri, Benoit, James, and Andrew. Emily, Phillou, S. J, Yaelle, Alice, Alex, Jo, Miki, Tati, Steph, and Tessythe most amazing women I could have around me.

And for the little one. May you be as lucky as I.

What is Boko Haram? Do you know who they are or what they want? asks a senior European bureaucrat. Although the sect has been causing havoc in northern Nigeria since at least 2009, it only caught the attention of the world in 2014 after the kidnapping of 276 girls from Chibok, a town in Borno State, northeast Nigeria. This was not the first mass kidnapping operation led by the insurgents, nor was it the most violent. But it crossed a line and made international headlines.

In the last two years, the literature on Boko Haram has multiplied as academics, journalists, and politicians seek to understand the nature of this violent group. Africa has had more than its fair share of violent actors, ranging from the Lords Resistance Armys systematic mutilation of women and childrenalso responsible for the deaths of 100,000 people in Ugandato the Revolutionary United Fronts grisly track record of hacking off the limbs of Sierra Leonians over a period of 11 years. There is a certain viewer fatigue when it comes to civilian atrocities on the continent, and yet Boko Haram appears nonetheless to have touched a chord.

I have been following Boko Harams development since late 2012, when the group, although increasingly violent, was of little interest except to nongovernmental organizations traveling in the northeast or to companies in the area usually concerned with the safety of their personnel. In the last three years, Boko Haram has developed strategically, militarily, and ideologically under the presumed leadership of Abu Shekau and with the help of sister organizations. Between 2013 and 2014, it also expanded territorially, claiming large swathes of territory in Yobe, Borno, and Adamawa states, northeast Nigeria. Most importantly for our study, Boko Haram has become of strategic interest to the West in its struggle to understand and tackle Islamist extremism. It has taken a relatively long time and much destruction to reach this stage of public consciousness.

Nigeria is a strategic ally in West Africa, a leading trade partner on the continent and a major exporter of oil globally. It has developed enduring political and economic ties with the United States, Europe, China, India, and Brazil. Its internal security is important to its neighbors and its trade partners insofar as it can disrupt the economy. Although Boko Haram has slowed down the local economy of northeast Nigeriaa region that makes up just 6.6 percent of Nigerias GDP, this has had little to no impact on the major exports such as oil and cocoa, nor has it deterred multinational corporations from pouring investments into the rest of the country, especially in the south. Boko Haram does not present a serious threat to Western economic interests in Nigeria. Arguably, it is not even an economic threat to Nigeria other than increasing the socioeconomic gap between the countrys northern and southern regions.