EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• Boko Haram is a relatively new organization, having begun serious military operations against the Nigerian government in 2009.
• Abubakar Shekau leads a confederation of sub organizations with commanders who mostly control their own day-to-day operations.
• Shekau’s legitimacy comes from his position as deputy to the founder of Boko Haram, Mohammed Yusuf.
• Boko Haram primarily conducts offensive raids, assaults, and ambushes against thinly-stretched and poorly-resourced Nigerian security elements and civilians in northeastern Nigeria.
• Influence from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), to whom Boko Haram recently swore allegiance, can be seen in an improved and increasing Boko Haram social media presence.
• The Nigerian military counterinsurgency campaign begun in 2013 has reduced Boko Haram’s freedom of maneuver within Nigeria, causing it to setup safe havens in Niger, Chad, and Cameroon utilizing hundreds of unguarded border transit points.
• Due to a campaign of violence against civilians and businesses, Boko Haram has lost both Nigerian civilian support and recruits, causing it to look to disaffected and poverty-ridden areas in border countries, particularly Cameroon.
• Boko Haram’s violent attacks have alienated it from much of the Nigerian population.