Title: FSI | CISAC | MAPPINGMILITANTS CISAC - MMP: Boko Haram
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Boko Haram
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Content: 3] Boko Haram expanded into Yobe state, where it set up another base, nicknamed “Afghanistan,” near the Nigeria-Niger border in 2003. [ 4]
From 2002-2003, a group of Yusuf’s students formed a community near Kanama, Nigeria in order to adhere to Yusuf’s teachings and live outside secular society. Members of this group, dubbed Al Sunna Wal Jamma (Followers of the Prophet’s Teachings) were the first followers of Yusuf to instigate violence against the Nigerian government. This sect was quashed by the Nigerian government in 2003. [ 5] In response Boko Haram conducted its first attack, occupying a police station and raising the Afghan Taliban flag. [ 6]
Before 2009, the group was less politically focused, seeking to separate themselves from secular society. With the Yusuf’s death and increased conflict between Boko Haram and the Nigerian government, Boko Haram came to seek the overthrow of the Nigerian government and the establishment of an Islamic caliphate. Open conflict erupted in July 2009 following a violent clash between Boko Haram members and the police, when militants refused to adhere to a law requiring motorcyclists to wear helmets. This incident incited violent uprisings in Bauchi and quickly spread to Borno, Yobe, and Kano. [ 7] Nigerian military forces killed over 700 in suppressing the uprisings and capturing Yusuf.