Boko Haram is a Nigerian jihadist terrorist organization founded in 2002 in Maiduguri, Borno State, by Mohammed Yusuf and Selim II. It operates as an irregular military, terrorist organization and quasi-state across Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Mali, and it is aligned with the Islamic State as a parent organisation. The group’s insurgency, which began in 2009, has produced tens of thousands of casualties and displaced more than two million people. Its formal name is Jama’atu Ahlis-Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad, often shortened to JAS.
Key facts
- Country: Nigeria; Cameroon; Chad; Mali
- Founded: 2002
- Founder: Mohammed Yusuf; Selim II
- Type: irregular military; terrorist organization; quasi-state
- Parent organisation: Islamic State
Founding and early years
Mohammed Yusuf founded the group in Maiduguri, Borno State, preaching withdrawal from what he viewed as a corrupt and un-Islamic Nigerian society. In 2003 members established a small settlement near the border of Niger that they called “Afghanistan.” Yusuf was killed in police custody in July 2009, an event that splintered the group and pushed it toward jihadist violence.
Shekau’s leadership and escalation
Abubakar Shekau, Yusuf’s former deputy and an ethnic Kanuri whose parents were poor farmers who had immigrated from Niger, took over leadership in 2010. The group’s first attack under him came on September 7, 2010, when roughly 50 fighters stormed Bauchi prison and freed more than 100 Boko Haram members. In January 2012 a wave of bombings in Kano killed more than 180 people in a single day. The group maintained a relationship with Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, including gaining knowledge on constructing improvised explosive devices.
Boko Haram proclaimed a “caliphate” in the Borno town of Gwoza in 2014 after seizing large swaths of territory. On May 5, 2014, militants attacked a staging base for rescuers, killing an additional 310 people.
Status as of November 2026
On November 6, 2026, Nigeria’s military ruled out any ceasefire with Boko Haram and ISWAP, saying attacks on military positions in the northeast had surged despite the 17-year-old insurgency. A report on November 5, 2026, said the Nigerian government had reportedly entered into a secret ceasefire agreement with a Boko Haram faction led by Bakura Doro that kept parts of the northeast relatively calm for about three months. As of November 2026, there are reportedly about three factions of JAS operating.
Did you know
- Shekau was believed to be in his late 30s when U.S. officials dubbed him “the man who would be Africa’s Bin Laden.” (nbcnews.com)
- In a widely cited 2012 propaganda video, Shekau declared, “I enjoy killing.” (france24.com)
- Boko Haram used 44 children to carry out suicide attacks in West Africa in one year, up from just four the year before, according to the UN. (news.yahoo.com)
- A decade after the Chibok raid, Amnesty International reported that 82 of the schoolgirls remained in captivity as of April 2024. (amnesty.org)
- On May 12, 2014, Shekau appeared in a video with about 50 of the Chibok girls and declared, “Allah said we should enslave them.” (ctc.westpoint.edu)
Data sources
- Wikidata
- start.umd.edu
- mappingmilitants.org
- france24.com
- ctc.westpoint.edu
- main.un.org
- timeslive.co.za
- allafrica.com
- news.yahoo.com
Data updated: 2026-11-10