ANALYSIS OF BOKO HARAM INSURGENCY ACTIVITES IN NORTH EASTERN NIGERIA: A GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM APPROACH

Abstract

Over the years, Nigeria as a Nation has been witnessing serious unrest characterized by the ethnic, political, farmer’s-herder’s conflict and activities of the insurgency. The north eastern geo-political zone of Nigeria was not left out of the activities. The activities of the Boko Haram insurgents has led to over ten thousand people losing their life and properties making many homeless. The paper is aimed at providing a comprehensive data and show the spatial distribution of activities of Boko Haram insurgency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States between 2009 and 2017. The paper utilizes secondary data from Armed Conflict Data (ACLED), printed materials, newspaper records, journals, and security agencies records. The method of analysis utilized in the study is Geographical Information System (GIS) approach using ArcGIS software and graphs to indicate the activities of the insurgency. The finding of the research shows that Borno State has the highest occurrence of insurgency and Yobe State recorded the lowest. The study concludes that the activities of the insurgents are more at the northern part and along the international boundaries.