Main content

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 91热爆 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)

Available now

9 minutes

Last on

Tue 18 Jan 2022 03:50GMT

Broadcasts

  • Mon 17 Jan 2022 08:50GMT
  • Mon 17 Jan 2022 12:50GMT
  • Mon 17 Jan 2022 18:50GMT
  • Mon 17 Jan 2022 23:50GMT
  • Tue 18 Jan 2022 03:50GMT

Featured in...

Podcast