After controlling vast regions of Iraq and Syria, ISIS has lost most of its territory, and its influence has waned since its peak during the Obama administration, when it was crucifying, burning and beheading Christians.
Not so with its protégé in Africa, Boko Haram.
The group is a “bloody terror” that is getting more virulent, dangerous and deadly, according to Turkish journalist Uzay Bulut, a senior fellow at the Gatestone Institute.
It has expanded from Nigeria, where the government appears unable to cope, to Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
“Suicide bombings and other deadly attacks committed by Boko Haram terrorists over the past decade have claimed the lives of tens of thousands of innocent people, while more than two million others have been displaced,” Bulut said.
Nathan Johnson, the regional manager for Africa for the non-profit International Christian Concern, told Bulut, “Nigeria’s government has proved itself to be incompetent at best, and at worst, complicit in the attacks.”
“Billions of dollars” have been dispatched by the United States Agency for International Development to northeastern Nigeria, but it’s not sufficient.
“As long as groups such as Boko Haram are able to keep destroying whole villages and infrastructure – while devastating populations – NGOs will never be able to keep up,” Johnson said.
Bulut explained the tens of thousands killed and the more than 2 million displaced do not even include the thousands of women and children abducted.
Some, according to the Counter Extremism Project, “have been forced to carry out suicide missions.”
According to the CEP, Boko Haram “has increased the number of female suicide bombers due to the easy concealment of weapons under hijabs and Islamic customs that forbid men to frisk women.”
So far in 2019, International Christian Concern said, Boko Haram has kidnapped 179 people in Niger alone, mostly women and girls.
That doesn’t include the many unreported abductions or those that took place in Nigeria or Cameroon, the group said.
Johnson said Islamic extremism has found a home in Africa for a number of reasons.
“The first is insecurity. A lack of governmental control has allowed jihadist groups to hold vast areas of land and have sway over millions of people’s lives. This provides the terrorists with space to train and rest, a population from which to recruit operatives and the opportunity to raise or steal money.
“The second reason is poverty and illiteracy. Millions families live in the poorest of circumstances in Africa’s Sahel region. Four of the 10 countries in the Sahel are among the 25 poorest countries in the world. Their lack of money means that infrastructure, education and healthcare, among other things, suffer. With all of these issues, extremist groups find an easy source of volunteers when they are able to offer money and power.
“The third reason is easy access to weapons. With funding and support from outside sources such as ISIS, groups like Boko Haram can easily get weapons that match or beat those of the local militaries of these countries. When Moammar Gadhafi fell in Libya, a flood of weapons hit the black market and were made available to terror groups across West Africa. This has made it easier for them to attack both civilians and soldiers, as well as capture lands.”
And, Johnson said, Islam “holds a historical claim to much of Africa.”
“It is clear that the farther north in Africa you go, the stronger Islam’s hold. Many North African countries also already adhere to a very strict and extreme interpretation of Islam.”
Boko Haram’s home nation, Nigeria, has been the most devastated by the group, Johnson said.
Bulut noted that about 112 schoolgirls still are missing from the kidnapping that Boko Haram carried out in 2014 of 300 children from the mostly Christian town of Chibok.
An estimated 2,000 people were massacred by Boko Haram in the town of Bagan and nearby villages in 2015.
The most recent attack happened just days ago in Niger, where a night raid by Boko Haram left 12 villagers dead, the report said.
