The rise of Boko Haram
How a small Nigerian Islamist group launched a brutal insurgency
How a small Nigerian Islamist group launched one of the deadliest insurgencies in Africa. In 2002, a new radical sect emerged in Maiduguri in north eastern Nigeria led by a charismatic preacher, Mohammed Yusuf. He preached against anything he deemed un-Islamic or having a western influence. Locals gave the group a nickname, Boko Haram - meaning "western education is forbidden". In 2009, the group launched co-ordinated attacks on police across northern Nigeria. Maiduguri saw the fiercest fighting. It was the start of an insurgency that would devastate the region. We hear from Bilkisu Babangida who was the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Hausa service reporter in the city at the time.
Photo: A suspected Boko Haram house in Maiduguri set ablaze by Nigerian security forces, 30th July 2009 (AFP/Getty Images)
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- Mon 17 Jan 2022 08:50GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service
- Mon 17 Jan 2022 12:50GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service
- Mon 17 Jan 2022 18:50GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
- Mon 17 Jan 2022 23:50GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Tue 18 Jan 2022 03:50GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service
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