Boko Haram
Boko Haram is a Nigeria-based terror group that seeks to rid the country of Western and secular institutions and to resuscitate the Kanem-Bornu caliphate that once ruled over modern-day Nigeria, Chad, and Cameroon. The group was founded by a Salafist cleric named Mohammed Yusuf in 2002. Yusuf opened the Ibn Taymiyyah Masjid mosque in Maiduguri and developed a significant following among disaffected youth in the area. Many of these followers went on to become Boko Haram militants. (Sources: Brookings, Al Jazeera, Oxford Research Encyclopedias, BBC News)
In 2009, Yusuf was killed by Nigerian security forces and Abubakar Shekau became the leader of Boko Haram. Under Shekau’s leadership, Boko Haram has grown more militant and has developed a reputation for mass violence. In addition to targeting Christians, who represent approximately 50 percent of the Nigerian population, Boko Haram routinely targets Muslim civilians outside of the organization (who are, by virtue of that fact, considered infidels). Boko Haram’s ideology and tactics have alienated Nigerians making it hard for Boko Haram to recruit new members. As a result, the group has resorted to the conscription of thousands of boys and girls, many of who are trained in boot camps in northeast Nigerian and neighboring Cameroon. (Sources: Combating Terrorism Center, Brookings, Pew Research Center, Institute for Security Studies, Al Jazeera, Strategic Studies Institute, Wall Street Journal)
In 2012, a number of Boko Haram members who opposed Shekau’s willingness to target Muslim civilians defected to form a splinter group called Ansaru. The group’s full Arabic name, Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina Fi Biladis Sudan, loosely translates to “Vanguards for the Protection of Muslims in Black Africa.” Ansaru is aligned with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and has executed a number of notable attacks against foreign targets. The United States designated the group a terrorist organization in 2013. Nigerian authorities captured Ansaru’s leader, Khalid al-Barnawi, in early April 2016 and since then a number of Ansaru members have reportedly reintegrated with Shekau’s Boko Haram. (Sources: BBC News, Combating Terrorism Center, Bloomberg News, BBC News, U.S. Department of State, BBC News, African Arguments, African Arguments)
Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP)
In March 2015, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau announced the Nigerian terror group’s allegiance to ISIS. Shortly after, ISIS’s now-deceased spokesperson Abu Mohammad al-Adnani released an audio message directing individuals who could not enter Iraq or Syria to travel to West Africa. There is little evidence to suggest that Adani’s message attracted a significant number of foreign fighters to Nigeria. On the contrary, an estimated 6,000 individuals, including the son of the former Nigerian Chief Justice Muhammad Lawal Uwais, reportedly left Nigeria and other African countries to fight with ISIS in Iraq and Syria. (Sources: Institute for Security Studies, Reuters, The Punch, Daily Trust)
Boko Haram split into two groups when ISIS appointed Abu Musab al-Barnawi as the head of the Islamic State’s West Africa Province in August 2016. Although Shekau did not win the endorsement of ISIS, he refused to relinquish his authority and has continued to lead a group of followers under the banner of Boko Haram. Shekau has maintained his allegiance to ISIS and, in March 2017, began including ISIS logos in official Boko Haram videos. (Sources: CNN, Institute for Security Studies)
Since the split, the attacks carried out by each faction are difficult to differentiate. One difference, however, is that ISWAP controls territory in the Lake Chad Basin area in northern Borno State whereas Shekau’s faction controls land in central and southern Borno State, including Boko Haram’s historical territorial stronghold of the Sambisa Forest. (Source: Combatting Terrorism Center)
With ISIS losing territory in the Middle East, Nigeria has recently seen an influx of foreign fighters joining the ranks of Boko Haram and ISWAP via Iraq and Syria. According to a CNN report, approximately 1,500 foreign fighters have joined Boko Haram and around 3,500 have joined ISWAP. (Sources: The Punch, CNN)
Currently, there are over 3,500 to 5,000 fighters who belong to ISWAP who regularly carry out attacks in Borno State. ISWAP has been effective in recruiting members and building support as they have learned to blend into the community at large, and have assured locals that they will not be harmed in ISWAP-controlled territories as long as they do not cooperate with the Nigerian military. Additionally, the group provides financial incentives to future fighters and young entrepreneurs in the region. By offering loans to businesses in the region, ISWAP reinforces the loyalty of their supporters while also receiving foods and goods services from the merchants. Furthermore, given that armed bandits have become more common in northeastern Nigeria over the past few years, some locals rely on ISWAP to protect them against that threat. (Source: Foreign Policy)
On February 23, 2020, the United Nations Security Council listed ISWAP on the ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions List. (Source: United Nations Security Council)
Kala Kato
Kala Kato is an Islamic fundamentalist movement with a following in Nigeria. It is considered a Quranist movement: Kala Kato followers rely exclusively on the Quran and reject the religious authority of the Hadith (a series of books describing the words and actions of the Islamic prophet Muhammad). The movement’s reasoning for dismissing the Hadith is reflected in the name “Kala Kato,” which translates to “a mere man said it.” Kala Kato considers those who follow the Hadith to be infidels, which has caused tension between Kala Kato and other Muslim sects. This tension has been exacerbated by the fact that Kala Kato has challenged conventional Muslim practices such as reciting the Islamic prayer Nasilat and the act of alms-giving, or zakat. (Sources: Nigerian Research Network, Jamestown Foundation, Niger Times)
Kala Kato followers have been known to publicly preach their views and promote militancy. The movement rejects western education and followers have reportedly tried to persuade Nigerian parents to pull their children out of school to study the Quran. According to a Nigerian security official, followers have successfully proselytized moderate Muslims in Nigeria and in neighboring countries such as Niger. (Sources: Nigerian Research Network, BBC News, Northwestern University)
Izala
Izala is an anti-Sufi, Salafist organization that was founded by Sheikh Ismaila Idris in 1978 in the central Nigerian city Jos. The name “Izala” is short for Jama’atul Izalatul Bid’ah Wa’ikhamatul Sunnah, which translates to “society for the removal of innovation and reinstatement of tradition.” Izala has established Islamic schools and mosques for purposes of recruitment and indoctrination and has reportedly managed to garner a significant following in and around Nigeria. (Sources: University of Bayreuth, Oxford University Press)
The organization finds its roots in the early 1960s as a movement centered on Sheikh Abu-bakar Gummi, a prominent preacher and scholar influenced by the Saudi Islamic doctrine Wahhabism. Izala has maintained a connection to the Wahhabi movement and has reportedly received significant financial support from the Saudi Arabian government via its embassy in Nigeria. (Sources: Strategic Studies Institute, Washington Post)
Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN)
Founded by Nigerian extremist Malam Ibrahim al-Zakzaky, the Islamic Movement in Nigeria is a Shiite organization reported to be financially and ideologically supported by Iran. According to a 2013 report from the Combatting Terrorism Center at West Point, the IMN is considered “Iran’s proxy” by some Iranian officials and has adopted the Iranian government’s anti-American, anti-western, and anti-Israeli political views. In July 2014, more than 30 IMN members were killed in clashes with government forces including during the IMN’s yearly Quds procession—an event held to demonstrate IMN’s solidarity with the Palestinian cause. IMN has reportedly emulated many of Hezbollah’s recruitment practices. The group allegedly runs a radio station, newspaper, and more than 300 schools. According to Nigerian intelligence, IMN hosts training camps for new recruits across northern Nigeria. Ever since the detainment of al-Zakzaky in 2015 following charges of murder, IMN followers have regularly held protests across the country. Although al-Zakzaky was ordered to be released by a federal high court in 2016, the army simply ignored the order. Their protests reportedly turn violent due to national hostility and police overreaction towards the Shiite marchers. In one confrontation in December 2018, Nigerian soldiers opened fire on unarmed demonstrators, which the military later justified as their right to defense. On July 29, 2019, the federal court allowed the government to designate the IMN as a terrorist organization. (Sources: Strategic Studies Institute, Sahara Reporters, Combating Terrorism Center, Sahara Reporters, Middle East Institute, Council on Foreign Relations, Radio Farda, New York Times)
Movement for the Islamic Revival (MIR)
IMN follower Abubakar Mujahid founded the Movement for the Islamic Revival (or Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah, Ja’amutu Tajidmul Islami) in the late 1990s in Kano, Nigeria. The group is known to exploit street violence and organize mass protests. Abubakar Mujahid and IMN founder Malam Ibrahim al-Zakzaky are reported to be an influential grass roots force capable of convening street demonstrations of up to half of a million people in Kano. Both Zakzaky and Mujahid are reported to have revered al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden. (Source: Strategic Studies Institute)