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| Map by Evan Centanni. All rights reserved. |
Research by T.H., with additional reporting by Evan Centanni
Boko Haram in Retreat
Over the last two months, a multinational military offensive has aggressively pushed back the Boko Haram rebels, who now hold barely one-tenth of the Belgium-sized territory they controlled in January.
Chad has been key to the effort, sending its highly-effective army into the Boko Haram territories farthest from the Nigerian government’s reach. Niger also joined the intervention in March, and Cameroon has provided support from within its own borders.
With Boko Haram on the defensive, Nigeria’s military has pressed the
advantage from the other direction. Clearing the way northeast from
Borno State capital Maiduguri, by late February Nigerian troops had
captured Baga, on the fringes of the vast wetland that was once Lake Chad.
This was a major symbolic victory, as the town was home to a major
military base prior to being overrun in January, when many residents of
surrounding villages were massacred by Boko Haram fighters.
Meanwhile, Nigerian troops closed in on Boko Haram’s southern frontier, clearing Yobe and Adamawa States of rebel control, scattering fighters encamped in the Sambisa Forest, and eventually capturing nearby Bama, the second-largest town in Borno State. An end to rebel group’s territorial control appears to be in sight, with only the area surrounding Gwoza – the alleged capital of Boko Haram’s extremist fiefdom – remaining outside of government and allied control.
Joining the Islamic State
Since last year, Boko Haram has appeared to take a page from the playbook of the Islamic State (a.k.a ISIS or ISIL), which has risen to power in Iraq and Syria by seizing and holding vast areas of territory during the past year-and-a-half. The Nigerian rebel group, which shares its Salafi-jihadist ideology with the Islamic State, also made a point of using similar language in its PR last year, speaking of Islamic states and fighting in the name of the “Caliphate”, a historical term for an empire of all Muslims.
But this month, hounded by the troops of the multinational intervention force, the Boko Haram took things a step further. Speaking in an online video, leader Abubakar Shekau allegedly pledged his group’s direct allegiance to the Islamic State and its claimed Caliphate. The next week, an audio recording emerged in which an alleged Islamic State spokesperson “accepted” Boko Haram’s allegiance. Whether this will affect anything on the ground – or whether it’s merely symbolic – is still a matter of speculation.
 Country Name: • Nigeria (English)* Official Name: • Federal Republic of Nigeria (English)* Capital: Abuja *There are hundreds of local languages in Nigeria, but only English is official. |
Chronology of Events
The following is a timeline of major events and changes to territorial
control in northeastern Nigeria since our previous update in late January.
2015.01.29 Chadian ground troops captured Malam Fatori, on the border with Niger, from Boko Haram after a two-day aerial bombing campaign by Nigeria’s military. Fighting for neighboring Abadam was reportedly ongoing.
The same day, the African Union (AU) endorsed a proposal for a UN-backed intervention force to fight Boko Haram, to be composed of troops from Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger, and Chad – the four members of the existing Lake Chad Multi-national Joint Task Force (MNJTF) – plus Benin.
2015.01.30 The Nigerian government once again claimed to have recaptured Michika in Adamawa State. Meanwhile, Boko Haram fighters crossed into Cameroon to attack Fotokol, the new headquarters of the MNJTF.
2015.01.31 Chad launched airstrikes on Boko Haram-held Gamboru, just across the border from Fotokol.
2015.02.01 The Nigerian army repelled another major Boko Haram attack on Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State.
2015.02.02 Nigeria’s government claimed it had captured Gamboru, Mafa, Malam Fatori, Abadam, and Marte, but most of these would later be reported captured from Boko Haram separately at other times.
2015.02.03 Chadian troops crossed into Nigeria at Gamboru, where Boko Haram fighters were reportedly still present.
2015.02.04 Boko Haram attacked Fotokol, Cameroon, while Chadian troops were engaged across the border in Gamboru. However, troops from Chad, Nigeria, and Cameroon were able to drive away the militants.
2015.02.06 Fighters from Boko Haram attacked Bosso, Niger. This was reputedly their first attack inside Niger, but other sources said they attacked a prison in Diffa four days earlier, and had been operating in the country in small numbers since 2012.
2015.02.07 Nigeria’s electoral commission controversially announced it was delaying national elections six weeks from Feb. 14 to Mar. 28, allegedly to allow time for it to bring the vote to the northeast after defeating Boko Haram.
2015.02.13 Boko Haram launched its first known attack inside Chad, at Ngouboua village.
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| Boko Haram control in Jan. 2015 |
2015.02.17 Chadian forces reportedly captured Dikwa from Boko Haram, after securing Gamboru and reportedly clearing Ngala and Kala-Balge as well.
2015.02.18 The Nigerian army said it captured the towns of Monguno and Marte from Boko Haram.
2015.02.19 Nigeria said it cleared Boko Haram fighters from their headquarters in the Sambisa Forest, as well as parts of the Gwoza area.
2015.02.20 After being driven from their hideouts in the Sambisa Forest, Boko Haram fighters raided the Askira-Uba area, as well as three villages near Hong in Adamawa State.
2015.02.21 The Nigerian military recaptured Baga, the former MNJTF headquarters taken by Boko Haram in January. The military also reportedly secured Kukawa on its way from Monguno to Baga.
2015.02.25 A government press release said the Nigerian military destroyed Boko Haram camps in Baga, Bama, and Pulka.
2015.02.27 Nigerian government troops captured Gulak and Madagali from Boko Haram, ending rebel control in Adamawa State. The government also said it seized Bara, Bumsa, and other towns in Yobe State from the rebels.
2015.03.07 Nigeria’s military announced it had recaptured Buni Yadi and Buni Gari
in Yobe State from Boko Haram, as well as Mafa and Marte in Borno State (Marte had been previously reported recaptured on Feb. 18). The same day, Boko Haram apparently pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (a.k.a. ISIS, in Syria and Iraq) in a video posted online.
2015.03.09 Troops from Chad and Niger captured Damasak, on Nigeria’s northern border, from Boko Haram. Malam Fatori, also on the border, was reported captured for a second time (the first being Jan. 29). Meanwhile, suspected Boko Haram members launched a major attack on Gombi in Adamawa State, but did not capture the town.
2015.03.12 Nigerian military took control of Bama, the second-largest town in Borno. Abadam, on the border with Niger, also appeared on a government list of towns recaptured from Boko Haram during previous weeks. Meanwhile, Gulani and Bularafa were listed by a Nigerian military commander as towns captured from Boko Haram in Yobe State.
2015.03.13 A claimed spokesman for the Islamic State said the the Middle East-based group accepted Boko Haram’s pledge of allegiance, allegedly offered the week before.
2015.03.17 Nigerian troops captured Goniri, said to be the last Boko Haram stronghold in Yobe State.
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Graphic of the Nigerian flag is in the public domain (source).