Boko Haram (figuratively, "Western or non-Islamic education is a sin") is a controversial Nigerian militant Islamist group that seeks the imposition of Shariah law in the northern states of Nigeria.
It become known internationally following sectarian violence in Nigeria in 2009.
Boko Haram opposes not only Western education, but Western culture and modern science as well. In a 2009 BBC interview, Yusuf stated that the belief that the world is a sphere is contrary to Islam and should be rejected, along with Darwinism and the theory that rain comes from water evaporated by the sun.
The group was founded in 2002 in Maiduguri by Ustaz Mohammed Yusuf. In 2004 it moved to Kanamma, Yobe State, where it set up a base called "Afghanistan", used to attack nearby police outposts, killing police officers. Yusuf is hostile to democracy and the secular education system, vowing that "this war that is yet to start would continue for long" if the political and educational system was not changed.
In Bauchi the group was reported as refusing to mix with local people. The group includes members who come from neighbouring Chad and speak only in Arabic
In July 2009 the Nigerian police started investigating the group, following reports that the group was arming itself. Several leaders were arrested in Bauchi, sparking deadly clashes with Nigerian security forces which led to the deaths of an estimated 700 people.
Prior to the clashes, many Muslim leaders and at least one military official had warned the authorities about Boko Haram. Those warnings were reportedly ignored.
In the state of Yobe, fighters reportedly "used fuel-laden motorcycles" and "bows with poison arrows" to attack a police station.On 30 July, allegations were made that Yusuf himself was killed by Nigerian security forces after being taken into custody.
In January 2010, the group struck again in the Nigerian state of Borno, killing four people in Dala Alemderi ward in Maiduguri metropolis.
On September 7, 2010, Boko Haram freed over 700 inmates from a prison in Bauchi State.
In December 2010, Boko Haram were blamed for a market bombing, following which 92 of its members were arrested by police.
On Friday January 28, 2011, a gubernatorial candidate was assassinated, along with his brother and four police officers.
On March 29, police “thwarted a plot to bomb an [ANPP] election rally” in Maiduguri, Borno State (map). The threat was blamed on Boko Haram. On April 1 (the day before the original date of Nigeria’s legislative elections), suspected Boko Haram members attacked a police station in Bauchi (map). On April 9, a polling center in Maiduguri was bombed. On April 15, the Maiduguri office of the Independent National Electoral Commission was bombed, and several people were shot in a separate incident on the same day. Authorities suspected Boko Haram. On April 20, Boko Haram killed a Muslim cleric and ambushed several police officers in Maiduguri. On April 22, Boko Haram freed 14 prisoners during a jailbreak in Yola, Adamawa State (map)
On Tuesday February 8, 2011, Boko Haram gave conditions for peace. The radicals demanded that the Borno State Governor, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, should step down from office with immediate effect and also allow members to reclaim their mosque in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State. On 9th May 2011 Boko Haram rejected an offer for amnesty made by the governor-elect of Borno state, Kashim Shettima
Boko Haram was blamed for a series of bombings in northern Nigeria on May 29, 2011 that left 15 dead.
On June 17, 2011 the group claimed responsibility for a bombing attack on the police headquarters in Abuja that occurred the previous day. Officials believed that the attack was the first suicide bombing in Nigeria's history - wiki
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