Jihadist Insurgencies in the Sahel

2021 ◽  
pp. 568-586
Author(s):  
Ibrahim Yahaya Ibrahim
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Boko Haram ◽  
Lake Chad ◽  
Communal Violence ◽  
Governance Model ◽  
Lake Chad Basin ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Sahel Region ◽  
Local Levels

Over the last decade, jihadist violence has expanded and intensified throughout the Sahel region. Jihadi groups, including Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), Katiba Macina, and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), have established strongholds in many places in the central Sahel, as well as in and around the Lake Chad Basin. As they strengthen their presence, Sahelian jihadists have introduced new changes in local social relations and practices, experimented with new forms of governance, and attempted to insert themselves into the local political economy. Yet, as they gain ground and conquer new spaces, their governance model has also shown its limits: their presence has increasingly fueled deadly communal violence, and infighting among jihadi groups has become recurrent and deadly. This chapter analyses the factors and dynamics behind this surge of jihadi violence in the Sahel. It attempts to situate the global jihadi discourse within the spectrum of Islamic ideologies and discourses and elaborates on the dynamics, both at the state and local levels, that have favored the emergence of jihadi groups.

scholarly journals Desiccation of Lake Chad as a cause of security instability in the Sahel region

GeoScape ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 112-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kateřina Rudincová
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Political Conflict ◽  
Boko Haram ◽  
Lake Chad ◽  
Environmental Threats ◽  
Chad Basin ◽  
Ecological Changes ◽  
Lake Chad Basin ◽  
Terrorist Groups ◽  
Sahel Region

AbstractThe Lake Chad basin is one of the most unstable regions in Africa. The lake itself has shrunk and nowadays it covers less than 10 % of its area in 1960. These environmental changes have wider geopolitical consequences in the whole region, which encompasses countries such as Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon. Therefore, it seems that environmental threats may act as the detonators for larger political conflict as well as for a struggle for land and may cause growing instability in affected countries. The region is fragile, owing to the fact that several terrorist and Islamist groups are operating there. The most serious threat in the Lake Chad basin is militant Islamist group Boko Haram, which is based in north eastern Nigeria, but it is also active in neighbouring countries. As a result of both ecological changes and security threats, people are losing their traditional sources of income from herding and it is likely that there will be large waves of migration from the area. The paper focuses on the environmental challenges in the Lake Chad basin and their effect on the security in the region. The main attention will be paid to the strategies and actions of militant terrorist groups such as Boko Haram that will be analysed in the wider regional geopolitical context.

scholarly journals The Split in Boko Haram and Its Impact for the Lake Chad Basin Region

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 214-230
Author(s):  
T. S. Denisova ◽  
S. V. Kostelyanets
Keyword(s):  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Boko Haram ◽  
Lake Chad ◽  
Chad Basin ◽  
Lake Chad Basin ◽  
Military Tactics ◽  
Basin Region

The Islamist group Boko Haram (BH) was founded in the early 2000s and in less than two decades has transformed from a “Nigerian” movement into a regional one. Tactical, strategic and ideological differences between the leaders of BH have repeatedly led to its splits into separate factions; the most serious occurred in 2016, when the group split into the Islamic State in West Africa Province and Jamaatu Ahl-is-Sunna Lidda’Awati Wal-Jihad, the latter being still referred to as “Boko Haram” for convenience.The present paper examines the reasons for the splits in BH, the goals and military tactics of the two factions, and the prospects for the development of the security situation in the region of the Lake Chad basin (LCB), where armed conflict is fueled by large-scale poverty, socio-economic and political marginalization, and ineffectiveness of local authorities against the background of intertribal tensions and massive migration.The LCB has now become a huge human reservoir for jihadist recruitment. The situation in the region is further complicated by the fact that a significant portion of the population supports the Islamists, while the majority of locals are targeted by them and seek to leave their homes.The authors note that the division of BH into separate factions has made it more difficult for the LCB armed forces to conduct anti-terrorist operations, and for the LCB governments to negotiate cease fires or retrieve hostages, although, simultaneously, the split has led to a certain decline in the level of violence and to the weakening of the influence of the Islamists on the socio-economic development in the region.

Emboldened Boko Haram will undermine Nigerian military

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Islamic State ◽  
Security Threat ◽  
Boko Haram ◽  
Security Forces ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Lake Chad ◽  
Lake Chad Basin ◽  
Leadership Turnover ◽  
Operational Efficacy ◽  
The Military

Subject Boko Haram outlook. Significance The Nigerian Air Force announced on August 20 that it carried out “massive” bombing attacks earlier this month against Boko Haram forces regrouping around their former stronghold in the Sambisa Forest. This follows soon after the military allegedly killed Momodu Bama, second-in command to Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau. Yet despite these renewed military efforts, the Nigerian army faces two still-capable Boko Haram factions, each of which has staged multiple deadly attacks in recent months. Impacts The Islamic State-linked Boko Haram faction has emerged as the most dangerous security threat in the Lake Chad Basin in the short term. The military will struggle to differentiate between Boko Haram factions, undermining operational efficacy. Leadership turnover within the security forces will not overcome the systemic problem of under-equipped and underprepared troops. Neighbouring countries, such as Niger and Cameroon, will bolster border security amid worsening Boko Haram and other criminal threats.

Pastoralists and the State ... and 'islamic State' On Eastern Niger's Frontier: Between Evasion And Engagement

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-79
Author(s):  
Florian Köhler
Keyword(s):  
Current Situation ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Boko Haram ◽  
Lake Chad ◽  
Chad Basin ◽  
Political Opportunities ◽  
Mobile Pastoralists ◽  
Lake Chad Basin ◽  
State And Society ◽  
Peripheral Areas

In the current situation of militant Islamist groups encroaching on peripheral areas of different Sahelian states, mobile pastoralists are often accused of sympathising or collaborating with jihadists. Examining this phenomenon with a focus on eastern Niger and in the context of the Boko Haram crisis in the Lake Chad basin, this article relates it to the debates about incorporation and evasion of pastoralists with regard to state and society, and frontiers and borderlands as spaces not only of difficult governance but also of economic and political opportunities.

Nigeria defector reintegration will meet challenges

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Boko Haram ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Lake Chad ◽  
Chad Basin ◽  
Lake Chad Basin ◽  
New Development

Significance This follows the death of longtime Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau in May at the hands of his rivals in the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). Cameroonian authorities are also reporting a surge in defections. Though the numbers may be exaggerated, this represents a significant new development in the ongoing struggle against jihadist insurgency. Impacts Shekau’s death will allow ISWAP to consolidate its control in the Lake Chad basin by removing a major rival. ISWAP’s overall fighting strength may not substantially increase as many former Boko Haram fighters may defect rather than join ISWAP. The Nigerian military’s use of indiscriminate airstrikes may deter future defections and fuel recruitment into ISWAP.

scholarly journals Charting Violent Extremism Research Priorities in North Africa and the Sahel 2018

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
North Africa ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Research Priorities ◽  
Violent Conflict ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Boko Haram ◽  
Lake Chad ◽  
State Fragility ◽  
Lake Chad Basin ◽  
Violent Extremism

As the socio-political dynamics of conflict and insecurity continue to evolve across North Africa and the Sahel, efforts to prioritize the exploration of ongoing and emerging violent extremist trends remain important. For decades, violent conflict, poor resource management, environmental change, and weak governments (through lack of institutional capacity or by predatory elite design) have contributed to cycles of instability and state fragility. Violent extremist organizations such as Boko Haram, al-Qaeda, and the self-proclaimed Islamic State and its affiliates have benefited from this instability. As the groups, tactics, and contexts continue to change, greater attention to ongoing and emerging threats to peace and stability in the region is needed. In 2018, the RESOLVE Network convened over 30 global, regional, and local researchers, practitioners and policymakers with varied expertise in local governance, development, and the preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) research landscape in the Lake Chad Basin and regional proximity. The topics identified here reflect participants’ collective assessment of current dynamics, expertise, in-depth understanding, and commitment to continued analysis of violent extremism (VE) trends and dynamics in the region.

scholarly journals Decapitation strategies and the significance of Abubakar Shekau's death in Nigeria's Boko Haram crisis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isaac Olawale Albert
Keyword(s):  
Local Communities ◽  
West African ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
War On Terrorism ◽  
Boko Haram ◽  
Lake Chad ◽  
Chad Basin ◽  
Lake Chad Basin ◽  
New Recruits ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Decapitation strategies have often been linked to counterterrorism. The existing literature suggests the results of these strategies are mixed. Previous studies suggest that the death of a prominent leader may not necessarily end the crisis; it all depends on the group's infrastructure, ideology, leadership traditions, and extent of its penetration in society. This article takes a critical look at the impact of a recent leadership decapitation in Nigeria. Abubakar Shekau, the leader of the Boko Haram movement in the Lake Chad Basin countries, was killed on 19 May 2021 by a faction of the movement known as the Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP). This article argues that Shekau's case has paradoxically helped to strengthen ISWAP's position, giving it new recruits and other resources and perhaps most importantly reinforced its position with local communities. This has implications for the Nigerian state, its neighbours and, because of Boko Haram's links to ISIS, the wider war on terrorism.

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