Evasive countermeasures: Boko Haram’s influence operations in the Lake Chad Basin region

Abstract

Since its emergence, the insurgency group, Boko Haram has continued to wreak havoc on local communities in Northeast Nigeria and across the Lake Chad Basin region together with its offshoot, the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP). This has led to the death of several people and the displacement of many others. While affected states in the troubled region have mostly responded through kinetic operations, the activities of both groups have continued unabated. These activities have mostly been achieved via attempts to exert influence in communities with little or minimal state authority. Previous studies have focused on the origins, causes, attacks, and consequences of the activities of the violent extremist group, yet its influence operations particularly in contested territories remain under-examined. This qualitative study foregrounds the need to close this gap using descriptive analysis. Countering Boko Haram and ISWAP’s influence operations in the Lake Chad Basin region remains the key to winning the “soft” war which is necessary to ultimately degrade, dismantle, and defeat these insurgency groups in the region.