Boko Haram affected areas

Cameroon’s military on Tuesday said it deployed troops to its northern border with Nigeria after a series of attacks authorities say were carried out the terrorist group Boko Haram.

In 2016, Nigeria launched a program to help Boko Haram defectors reintegrate into civilian life. Rare interviews with the “deradicalisation” facility’s graduates reveal some encouraging signs but also troubling patterns that – if not addressed – could endanger the initiative’s future.

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Boko Haram's claim of responsibility for a recent kidnapping of more than 300 students in Nigeria's northwestern state of Katsina signals that the militant group is expanding its terror activities beyond its traditional stronghold in the West African country's northeast, experts warn.  

A man identifying himself as the leader of Nigeria’s Boko Haram said on Tuesday the Islamist group was behind the abduction of more than 300 schoolboys, as anxious parents begged the government to secure their release. … The claims in the audio tape, if true, could mark a widening influence of jihadist groups operating in northeastern Nigeria, political analysts said.

Boko Haram has admitted to killing scores of rice farmers in northern Nigeria. The terror group said the attacks were carried out in retribution for farmers cooperating with the Nigerian military.

Security experts say Boko Haram has established bases on islets dotting Lake Chad.

Boko Haram has increasingly targeted loggers, herders, and fishermen, accusing them of spying and passing information to the military.

Islamists from a Boko Haram splinter group have taken large numbers of people captive in a northeastern Nigerian town. Many of the victims had just returned to the town after fleeing a bloody attack there two years ago. 

Boko Haram is extending its reach from north-east Nigeria into the country’s north-west. It is taking advantage of old and new local conflicts and insecurities to further embed itself in the area through violent extremism.