BOKO HARAM – THE EVOLUTION OF JIHAD ACTIVITY IN NIGERIA 2015–2019

This article analyzes the rise and evolution of Boko Haram, a Nigerian jihadist organization operating since March 2015 under the banner of Islamic State. The key changes in the ideology, tactics, and goals of Boko Haram have been identified providing in-depth insight into how and why the organization has evolved. The evolution of jihadist activity of Boko Haram included at least two dimensions: firstly – the extreme radicalization of paramilitary struggle manifested in the massacres of civilians in rural areas; and secondly – the feminization of jihadist activity with special regard to the involuntary participation of young women in suicide bombings. The analysis of the facts discussed in the article is based on one of the qualitative scientific methods, namely case study. The main reason to apply this method is the need to investigate the abovementioned changes in the activity of Islamic terrorists within the time limits indicated in the title of the article.

The origins of radical jihadism in Nigeria date back to the mid-1990s. The first radical Islamist structures were initiated by their "Founding Father" and leader, Abubakah Lawn (Waldek, Jayasekara, 2011: 168) or Abubakar Lawan (Onuoha, 2010: 55). Mohammed Yusuf was one of the most famous first-generation leaders. Earlier, he was active in the Izala Society, a Salafi group established in the late 1970s which opposed all kinds of religious innovation (bid'a) (Anugwom, 2019: 47). He made up for his lack of formal education with religious fervor. In the 1980s, in the mosques of Maiduguri, he warned the Muslim community against secularization, materialism and succumbing to external influences. A visible result of adopting this attitude was his withdrawing from political life and focusing on building a socioreligious movement.
Since the beginning, Boko Haram has promoted the introduction of Sharia law, fighting against the Westernization of Nigerian society, deposing the political elite from the Christian south and establishing an Islamic state on Nigerian territory (Bartolotta, 2011). This point of view was familiar to Al Qaeda, which operated in Islamic Maghreb in North Africa (Zenn, 2015: 17-21;Zenn, 2020). Mohammed Yusuf was strongly in favor of the dichotomous image of socio-political reality. He was of the opinion that Islamic society faced the threat of destruction caused by chaos, corruption and depravity brought from the outside. By depravity, Mohammed Yusuf understood all non-Islamic influences (not necessarily coming from outside the territory of Nigeria). Given this grave threat it was the obligation of all Muslims in Nigeria to embark on the path of jihad in order to defend the system established by the Rightly Guided Caliphs, embodied primarily by Sharia law. Although Sharia law was applied in twelve provinces in North Nigeria, its implementation defied its essential principles, having become an instrument of oppression in the hands of the political elite (Kozera, Popławski, 2018: 6-7;Anugwom, 2019: 53-60).
This ideology, which was characteristic of the entire jihadist movement, did not constitute a strict set of principles for the group's members. In other words, the actions of Boko Haram's individual operating units were incompatible, and sometimes actually contradictory to Yusuf's slogans. He had taken these slogans from other ideologists of jihad, such as Abu al-Ali Mawdudi, among others. Yusuf compared the situation in Nigeria to that of modern Pakistan. He characterized them both in terms of the syndrome of a besieged fortress. Only a revolutionary insurgency by the Muslim vanguard could result in ultimate success and the defeat of the foes of Islam (which included also anti-Islamic values associated with democracy, nationalism, Marxism and secularism) (Brakoniecka, 2017: 68-72). The doctrine managed to remain coherent in the field of propaganda, which efficiently fueled recruitment (Anugwom, 2019: 57-59). At least in the first decade of Boko Haram's activity (and definitely until the government counteroffensive in 2009), violence was not promoted as the main method of jihad. Over time, however, it became the main -if not the only -instrument of jihadist struggle.
The organizational structure of Boko Haram resembles that of other jihadist groups, especially Al Qaeda. In terms of the typology of organizational structures of terrorist organizations, it combines hierarchical and network structures. The Consultative Council (shura) occupies the main position in this structure. In the period under analysis, the Council was headed by the commander (emir) Abubakar Shekau. Shekau was one of two deputies of Yusuf as leader (Faluyi, Khan, Akinola, 2019: 69). Operating activities were the responsibility of a network structure of units (or operational hubs). Their number in the period analyzed is difficult to assess. Each of them had its own commander who received instructions from Shekau. Each commander had completed military training outside Nigeria (in jihadist camps in Libya, Mali or Sudan) (Anugwom, 2019: 91-92). The entire operational territory of Boko Haram was divided into zones in which individual local structures (micro-networks) operated. This structure should be viewed as a source of potential conflict regarding current operations. The structure of autonomous units embedded in a hierarchical structure may produce decentralist tendencies associated with potential opposition to the authoritarian model of managing the entire structure, which became especially clear when Abubakr Shekau took command (Brakoniecka, 2015: 39-40).
Operational activity would be impossible were adequate financing sources absent. In the opinion of Ona Ekhomu, Boko Haram secured financing from both legitimate and illicit sources. He included proceeds from trade, government subsidies and donations to charities in the former. Edlybe Eze Anugwom added membership fees to this list. Initially (at the time of Yusuf) these fees amounted to approximately 100 nairas daily (Faluyi, Khan, Akinola, 2019: 77). They made up a total of approximately 3,000 nairas per person per month (an equivalent of USD 8.00) (Anugwom, 2019: 93-94). According to Ekhomu, illicit sources included proceeds from the smuggling of arms and drugs, human trafficking and ransoms from abductions. Numerous local units of Boko Haram collected finances from common criminal activity. For instance, the members of Boko Haram units in North Nigeria traded foodstuffs, acting as middlemen in the fish trade in Baga (North-East Nigeria, near the Chad Lake). Even in this case, however, members of Boko Haram stole the food to resell it, or offered compulsory protection to food sellers. A number of local business owners paid membership fees to Boko Haram and delivered benefits in kind (e.g. cell phone cards). Non-governmental organizations were also used as intermediaries to collect financial resources from members and supporters of Boko Haram. Homeless children begged for them on the streets of cities in North Nigeria. It is interesting that Boko Haram received financing through state subsidies (of a semi-official char-acter) provided by regional state authorities (especially in Borno, Bauchi and Kano States). In the 2000s, these subsidies amounted to approximately 10 million nairas (1 Nigerian naira equals ca. USD 0.0026) per month. The payments were made in order to ensure that Boko Haram would maintain the ceasefire. Illicit operations were apparently more profitable. They involved mainly smuggling of arms, drugs and money. People (mostly women) were also smuggled and kidnapped for ransom. The most famous case, which has been extensively analyzed, concerned the abduction of 276 girls from Chibok, Borno State, in Nigeria on April 14, 2014. Members of Boko Haram pretended to be Nigerian soldiers who had arrived to evacuate the girls. Around 50 girls managed to escape from the transport and inform the authorities about the crime. In May 2016, 21 girls were released after a ransom of USD 13 million was paid. Later on, after another payment, a further 82 hostages were released. A similar crime, albeit with less media coverage, was committed in Dapchi, Yobe State, on February 19, 2018. Terrorists from Boko Haram abducted 110 girls from a local high school. In the following month, the authorities negotiated the release of the remaining girls from Chibok and the new abductees from Dapachi. A several million-dollar ransom was negotiated again. Members of Boko Haram gained considerable resources also from ransoms paid for third-state citizens. For example, a ransom of USD 3,150,000 was paid for the release of the Fournier family from France, who were kidnapped in the Waza National Park in North Cameroon. Kidnapping people for ransom, Boko Haram adopted the modus operandi from Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. Jihadists from Nigeria were apparently trained in this respect in Al Qaeda camps. The profitability of this criminal activity can explain why it was relatively frequent in the 2010s. Members of Boko Haram carried out armed attacks on shops and banks quite often. In the mid-2010s, Boko Haram gained considerable income from imposing a compulsory tax on persons and companies in the areas controlled by Boko Haram fighters. Those who refused to pay or stalled their payments were publicly punished and sometimes even executed. It is difficult to estimate the scale of human trafficking, including women treated as sexual slaves. It is also difficult to even estimate the extent to which Boko Haram was involved in drug trafficking (Ekhomu, 2020: 65-76).
In the late 2000s and early 2010s, Boko Haram was responsible for an Islamic armed insurgence during which Mohammed Yusuf was captured and executed in July 2009. He was replaced as group leader by Abubakar Shekau. Boko Haram employed guerrilla warfare tactics at that time, as evidenced by mainly targeting military bases, police units and police stations as well as state prisons. The headcount of Boko Haram at the peak of the fighting can be estimated at ca. 50,000 fighters (Ekhomu, 2020: 83). They made extensive use of vehicle-borne and person-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs and PBIEDs respectively). Explosive devices were frequently planted in houses (house-borne IEDs -HBIEDs). These tactics combined with careful selection of targets translated into a rapid increase in fatalities.
A significant manifestation of Boko Haram's activities was prison breaks. The pragmatic aspect of choosing this kind of target seemed obvious. Boko Haram would mainly attack those facilities where its members were being detained. Over a dozen such attacks were carried out in 2009-2014 (details are presented in Table 1). One of the other main tactics employed by Boko Haram fighters involved terrorist attacks (primarily by suicide bombers). The number of fatalities in this terror campaign is difficult to estimate. According to the Council of Foreign Relations, Boko Haram was responsible for ca. 10,000 fatalities in 2014 alone (Moore, 2015). In the first half of 2014, the group seized control over a considerable portion of Borno State (except for its capital -Maiduguri). However, by the end of 2015, it had been pushed out of this area by government forces.

BOKO HARAM AND ISLAMIC STATE
On March 7, 2015, the leader of Boko Haram pledged allegiance to Caliph al-Baghdadi. By virtue of the decision of the latter, a new Wilayat was established: Gharb Ifriqiyya (Islamic State West Africa Province). This declaration was purely symbolic, however. The new Wilayat was only a declarative step towards a global caliphate. In the opinion of Osman Antwi-Boateng, the popularity of this concept is rooted in history. In the case of Nigeria, its former glory was embodied by the Sokoto caliphate, an empire of the Fulbe people from the end of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth centuries. On the other hand, the resentment towards European metropolises, dating back to their colonial conquests, continue to be extremely strong (Antwi-Boateng, 2017: 24). They produced solutions that dominated the socio-political sphere but were alien to Islamic tradition (democracy, political plurality). Islamist slogans gained popularity due to socio-economic factors, such as a relatively high illiteracy rate, high unemployment rate, housing difficulties, omnipresent corruption and misappropriation of profits from crude oil sales.
In the second half of the 2010s, Boko Haram continued to employ tactics that were characteristic of the entire jihadist movement. Unlike before, the period of struggle under the banner of Islamic State marked the trend of extreme brutality and advancing anarchization of activity. Importantly, this is the result of Boko Haram having adopted the Islamic State's model of approaching the enemies of jihadists (and the conver-gence across the entire movement) on the one hand; and abandoning strategic goals (apparently for purely pragmatic reasons) and focusing on ad hoc objectives (usually profit-related) on the other. Another significant aspect concerns the internationalization of Boko Haram's jihadist activities. In other words, operating as a province of Islamic State, Boko Haram became more committed to guerrilla and terrorist campaigns in Nigeria as well as in West Africa (Eke, 2015: 4). Table 2 indicates the numerous similarities between Boko Haram and Islamic State. Complete subjugation of women and children through the limitation of their rights or slavery. Recruitment of children and women to carry out terrorist activities (suicide attacks).
Complete subjugation of women and children through the limitation of their rights or slavery. Recruitment of child soldiers.

Charismatic leadership
Abubakr Shekau -a charismatic leader (emir) of the group.
Charismatic role of caliph al-Baghdadi.

Kidnapping
One of the main instruments of terror. The main instrument of generating profits.
An instrument employed to achieve tactical goals (terror) and generate profits. Ethnic and sectarian cleansing Christians as the main target for attacks (destroying churches, expulsion).

Development of new social structures
Construction of new society ruled by Sharia principles.

Construction of new society ruled by Sharia principles.
Source: The author's own elaboration on the basis of Celso, 2015: 265. The tactics of guerrilla warfare that had been used hitherto were not rejected altogether, but lost their importance. The outcomes of guerrilla warfare were particularly visible in 2014-2015 (Pham, 2016: 13) and can be exemplified by the attack on and seizing of the town of Baga on January 3, where the headquarters of international antiterrorist forces that coordinated the struggle with Boko Haram were located (Mark, 2015). The attack resulted in ca. 2,000 fatalities and thousands of refugees who had to flee to Chad in the aftermath of the attack (Muscati, 2015). Baga was practically razed (schools, residential houses, hospitals and shops were burnt down) (Pham, 2016: 14). Importantly, Nigeria was not the only site of Boko Haram's terrorist activity. On June 15, 2015, two suicide terrorists launched an attack in the capital city of Chad, N'Djamena, killing 23 people and wounding a further 80. Three days later, Boko Haram jihadists attacked two villages in the region of Diffa, east Niger, killing over 40 people. On July 13, 2015, Boko Haram terrorists carried out two suicide attacks in Fotokol, Logone-et-Chari Department, Far North Cameroon, killing 13 persons (including civilians and one soldier). Starting in March 2015, young women have increasingly been used as suicide bombers. According to Fr Atta Barkindo, they have carried our one terrorist attack in four (Barkindo, 2016: 4).
In August 2016, the caliph of Islamic State appointed Abu Musab al-Barnawi as the emir of the local wilayat (Ekhomu, 2020: 125-126). Shekau responded to this decision with an armed rebellion. This internal conflict resulted in the relatively diminished operating activity of Boko Haram and a focus on struggles between different factions.

EXAMPLES OF THE EVOLUTION IN BOKO HARAM'S JIHADIST ACTIVITY
Boko Haram members successfully employed terrorist tactics in the mid-2010s. Following the tactical guidelines of Islamic State commanders, they put special emphasis on suicide attacks, which were relatively frequently used in guerrilla activities. An example can be provided by an attack carried out on June 4, 2015 in Maiduguri, by a young woman carrying explosives attached to her body by terrorists. The bomb was detonated at one of the control points in Maiduguri (Ekhomu, 2020: 98).
The terrorist campaign went beyond classic jihadist activity and embraced criminal activities conducted primarily for financial reasons. Kidnapping for ransom ensured a stable supply of funds which were indispensable when purchasing weapons and carrying out paramilitary actions. As time went by, in the second half of the 2010s, kidnapping strongly intensified, targeting also Nigerian families who could afford to pay ransoms of over ten thousand US dollars. Cold-blooded murders of civilians (who were beheaded) ensured the obedience of the intimidated population, but did not attract many followers. Although az-Zarkawi did not approve of female sexual slavery, the practices whereby women were physically and mentally mutilated, forced to marry and convert to Islam became commonplace in the territories of Islamic State and Boko Haram alike. The 2015-2019 terrorist campaign was launched against a whole group of soft targets (Wojciechowski, Osiewicz, 2017: 92). On a large scale, jihadists in Nigeria carried out premeditated attacks on religious sites (Shiite mosques and Christian churches) and other symbolic targets (Antwi-Boateng, 2017: 26-31).
On July 1, 2015, Boko Haram jihadists attacked mosques in Kukawa, Borno State, killing 97 people. On the following day, they massacred two villages near Monguno (Borno State again) killing 48 people (mainly women and children) (BBC, 2015). Similar attacks were launched in October 2015 in Nganzai, Borno State (AFP, 2015) and Kirchinga, Adamawa State (Fulani, 2015); and in January 2016 -in Dalori (near Maiduguri) (NAN, 2016). Targeting the inhabitants of smaller towns and villages became a way to retaliate for failures suffered when fighting against government forces during this period. Terrorist attacks were carried out with various weapons: melee weapons (at least five people had their throats slit in Kirchinga on October 1, 2015 (Fulani, 2015)), firearms and explosives (mainly through suicide attacks).
Over the following two years, another type of Boko Haram operating activity intensified. In 2017, four times more children were forced to conduct suicide attacks in North Nigeria than in 2016. UNICEF reported that from January to August 2017 alone, 83 children were involved in such attacks, including 55 girls (frequently under the age of 15). The majority of the 27 boys were disguised as girls during the attacks (UNICEF, 2017).
In the second half of the 2010s, attacks on educational establishments intensified. Choosing symbolic targets of this kind was dictated both by propaganda and tactical considerations. On the one hand, such targets were the sui generis mission of Boko Haram, and on the other guaranteed operating success since schools and universities were not protected well enough. In May 2015, a Boko Haram terrorist attacked a higher vocational school in Potiskum using light weapons and an IED (improvised explosive device). He managed to wound fourteen people before he was shot dead (Ekhomu, 2020: 123). The university in Maiduguri was repeatedly targeted. Several suicide attacks were launched on the university campus and in its vicinity in 2017. In one such attack in April 2017, two young women detonated explosives, killing four people. One month later, on May 13, 2017, three persons (including one female) carried out a suicide attack (detonating PBIEDs), killing themselves and one other person. Five days later, a simultaneous bombing took place near the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine targeting both the academic staff (Professor Aliyu Mani from the same Faculty had been killed in a similar attack in January 2017) and students. This terrorist offensive was likely inspired by Boko Haram fighters having been defeated by government forces (Ekhomu, 2020: 121-122).
On February 19, 2018, Boko Haram terrorists wearing Nigerian military uniforms entered a junior high school in Dapchi, Yobe State. They succeeded in persuading 110 girls that they would receive military protection in the face of an imminent rebel attack. Similar to the girls from Chibok, the hostages were driven in trucks to an unknown location. Several girls succeeded in escaping from the transport. Representatives of the Nigerian government negotiated the release of abducted girls, 104 of whom were soon released. The only Christian girl in the entire group was offered freedom in return for her converting to Islam, which she rejected. Importantly, this kidnapping was allegedly perpetrated by a group associated with Abu Musab al-Barnawi (Ekhomu, 2020: 125-126).
Two spectacular terrorist attacks were launched in Nigeria in June and July 2019. On June 16, three suicide bombers (including two females) detonated explosives in Kondunga, Borno State, targeting football fans. The terrorists succeeded in killing 30 people and wounding a further 40 (Adebayo, 2019). Six weeks later, on July 27, a Boko Haram unit attacked funeral mourners in Nganzai, Borno State, killing 65 people and wounding a further 10 (Sawab, Hartocollis, Ives, 2019).

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The jihad in Nigeria started long before the Iraqi-Syrian caliphate was founded. The highly patriarchal and decentralized structure of Nigerian Boko Haram was united by a common feeling of discontent with the difficult economic situation, xenophobia and the cult of violence providing the foundations for the paramilitary success of the group. Over time, it supported decentralization tendencies which had a destructive influence on the strategic dimension of Boko Haram's activity. In other words, shortterm pragmatic objectives were considered essential. These trends solidified as the group disintegrated into factions which became the case in August 2016.
The essential changes concerning the tactical activity of jihadist Boko Haram in the period analyzed include the extreme radicalization (brutalization) of paramilitary struggle as evidenced by the massacres of the civilian population (mainly in rural areas) in Nigeria and neighboring states. Another characteristic feature of Boko Haram's evolution involves the feminization of terrorist activity, evidenced by suicide attacks carried out by young women who had been enslaved and forced to perpetrate such attacks.
The actual collapse of the proto-state structures of Islamic State in 2018 seemed to have had a limited impact on the activity of Boko Haram, which had already been in the vanguard of the hyper-radicalism of Islamic State, in fact setting the direction for the entire jihadist movement. The relatively limited operating activity of Nigerian jihadists during the final two years of the period concerned seem to be the outcome of the competition between various factions. Yet, the smaller involvement of Boko Haram fighters in terrorist activities meant neither a radical change nor their abandonment of earlier tactics, as evidenced by the launching of spectacular acts of terrorism, among other things.