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.

Akali Omeni (PhD, Kings College London) is Lecturer at the Handa Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence, University of St Andrews, UK. He was previous a Lecturer in African Politics at the University of Leicester, UK. He has previously worked with the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) and was co-chair of the Africa Research Group at King's College London (affiliated to their world-leading War Studies department). In 2019, Omeni won the prestigious "Rising Star" excellence award at King's College London. His other previously published books include Policing and Politics in Nigeria.

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