Status Updates From Boko Haram: The History of ...

“Boko Haram’s violence now frequently targets Nigeria’s neighbors. In response, these governments have become more authoritarian, and regions already impoverished in comparison with others in their countries, risk being further underserved. Compounding these regions’ predicament is the humanitarian disaster that Boko Haram has caused.”

What Boko Haram did after the execution of its leader was to present itself as the victim of state violence, rather than as the aggressor. They used a contemporary event of violence against them as an opportunity to whitewash their own hands of a long history of oppression, much like Israel does every time they are hit - a big bang to silence all the previous bangs.

“Politics is a struggle to define a community’s values, to make or unmake a consensus. In this sense, politics and religion are intimately related: religious blueprints for reorganizing society are inevitably political projects as well.”

Once in control of his own mosque network, Yusuf’s popularity increased. People with economic ties to Yusuf could prosper. Affiliating oneself with Boko Haram could become a nearly full-time lifestyle. It was attractive in a region where most people were either under the age of 21, and or unemployed.