Insurgency and War in Nigeria

Boko Haram is the major threat to the Nigerian state, and has emerged as a destabilizing factor across sub-Saharan Africa. This is now a major focus of global policy-making, as between 2013 and 2014 insurgency-related deaths in Nigeria exceeded those in Iraq and Afghanistan. This book is the first to focus on the military nature of Boko Haram, the reasons for its success in those specific regions of the Chad basin it operates in and a detailed history of the Nigerian army's counter-insurgency - with whom, uniquely, the author has spent research time. The book identifies and analyses the battles and skirmishes on the front line, as well as unearthing a wider explanation for Boko Haram's military success and the causes of the instability in the region.

omeni is the principal consultant at Terrorism Studies Consultancy and a visiting professor at Boston University. He has taught at the War Studies Department, King's College London, at the University of Leicester, and at the University of St Andrews, UK, where he was Senior Lecturer. He is the author of Policing and Politics in Nigeria (2022), Insurgency and War in Nigeria (2019), Counter-Insurgency in Nigeria (2017) and Picking Sides: Race, Ethnicity and Recruitment in the Colonial Nigerian Army (forthcoming, 2025).

Preface Acknowledgements Introduction Part I: The Insurgent Chapter 1. Boko Haram's Formative Years, Ideology and Transitioning to Violence Chapter 2. The 2009 Troubles in North-East Nigeria and Abu Shekau's Emergence Chapter 3. 2016 - 2019: Boko Haram, Abu Mus'ab Al-Barnawi and Islamic State's West Africa Province (ISWAP) Part II: The Environment Chapter 4. The Terrestrial Environment as a Force-Multiplier Chapter 5. The North-East Nigeria Border Environment: Cameroon, Chad and Niger Chapter 6. The Non-Physical Environment to Boko Haram's Insurgency Part III: The Campaign Chapter 7. A Resilient Threat: Boko Haram's Military and Organisational Sophistication Chapter 8. Suicide Bombing and Guerrilla Warfare: Boko Haram's Covert Front Part IV: The Counter-Insurgency Challenge (Theory and Practice) Chapter 9. War and the COIN Challenge (Theory) Annexe to Chapter nine: 2019 Update Conclusion: So, Why Has the Nigerian Army Struggled Against Boko Haram? Notes Index