Boko Haram is an Islamic terrorist movement that operates out of north-eastern Nigeria. There are up to 10 000 members of the group, which wants to establish an Islamic state in Nigeria. Boko Haram is also thought to have connections with al Qaeda and the Islamic State.
The organization has been active since 2009, killing more than 5000 civilians, mainly in Nigeria’s Northern provinces.  In the last five years Boko Haram have kidnapped hundreds of men, women and children, including some western tourists.  By 2014 over half a million people have fled from the conflict zone to neighbouring countries.
Boko Haram was founded in 2002. Violence started increasing in 2009 when its founder was killed. Since then the terrorist group has carried out numerous attacks on police buildings and other governmental organizations. Targets include politicians and religious leaders. In 2011 Boko Haram a car bomb exploded in a UN office in the capital, Abuja, killing 21 people.
The Islamic movement has been in control of a territory of about 50,000 square kilometres in northern Nigeria. Boko Haram is also active in neighbouring Chad, Niger and northern Cameroon. Islamic fighters escape the Nigerian army by retreating to these countries. The army’s attempt to fight Boko Haram has not been successful. The country’s armed forces are short of money. Some officers and soldiers are corrupt and sympathise with Boko Haram.
Boko Haram is a fundamentalist movement that follows the sharia. It is against western values, especially education, and wants Nigeria’s poor people to receive a part of the country’s oil revenues. Since 2000, the sharia has been introduced by local authorities, mostly in the Islamic north of the country.