Boko Haram has terrorized Nigeria over the past five years, thousands have been killed, millions rendered homeless by the senseless acts of the terrorist group. In their time they have marked out their territory clearly, keeping to Northern Nigeria and occasionally, Abuja. They have also struck in neighboring countries like Cameroon, Chad and Niger and this led to the implementation of a multinational task force to combat the group.
It is now being reported by BBC and The Nation that in the past two months, Boko Haram has looked to expand its activities within Nigeria and nineteen suspected members of the terrorist group were arrested in Lagos, Enugu, Gombe, Plateau and Kano between July 8th and August 24th.
In President Goodluck’s bid for reelection, Boko Haram was faced without fear and in under six weeks, it looked as if the terrorist group had been wounded so dearly that they would be unable to cause further harm to Nigerians. The aggressive approach has not been replicated by the armed forces under President Buhari despite relocating the military headquarters to Maiduguri and Boko Haram has reemerged as a threat.
The latest Boko Haram attack was on Friday the 28th of August where more than 50 people were killed in an attack in north-eastern Borno State about 100km (62 miles) north of the state capital Maiduguri.
Popular belief has suggested that Boko Haram has not been combated because they only operate in the North, however with Lagos, the commercial capital now involved and Boko Haram’s desire to spread beyond the North, it shall be interesting to see how the defense forces react.