Boko Haram and ISWAP Islamists Clash in Nigeria
Murad Makhmudov, Hiroshi Saito, and Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
Sunni Islamist Takfiri massacres targeting both Christians and Muslims are nothing new in Nigeria. At times, these atrocities are directed solely against Christian communities; on other occasions, Boko Haram (Jama’at Ahl al-Sunna li al-Da’wa wa al-Jihad – JAS) and ISWAP (Islamic State in West Africa Province) brutally kill Muslim civilians. At other moments, intense internal rivalries erupt, leading to bloody clashes between Takfiri Islamist factions themselves.
These waves of massacres have tormented Nigeria for many years. Simultaneously, Fulani Muslim attacks on Christian villages have claimed countless lives, further deepening the nation’s suffering. Ethnic and religious fault lines—combined with endemic political corruption—continue to corrode the fragile fabric of Nigerian society.
In recent days, reports emerging from Nigeria indicate renewed fighting between Boko Haram and ISWAP in the volatile Lake Chad region—an area where Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria all experience the deadly reverberations of Islamist terrorism.
It is alleged that roughly 200 Islamist Takfiris were killed near the village of Dogon Chiku. If confirmed, this bloodletting may soon spill into neighboring areas, perpetuating the endless cycle of violence.
The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) reports: “The role of Lake Chad-based leader Bakura Doro in supplying weapons to JAS wings and coordinating group activities has been key to JAS’ revival, according to local sources. Niger announced it had killed Doro in a mid-August airstrike, but no evidence was provided, and according to multiple ISS sources, he is still alive.”
ISWAP emerged in 2016 following deep internal divisions within Boko Haram. Since then, violent clashes have periodically erupted between these Takfiri groups over control of territory and resources. Consequently, the Lake Chad region and northern Nigeria remain engulfed by waves of terrorism and insecurity.
The Guardian reports: “In May 2021, Iswap launched an offensive on Sambisa, the forest enclave that was Boko Haram’s longtime base, and where it kept abducted schoolgirls. It is believed that Abubakar Shekau, the infamous leader of Boko Haram, killed himself during a clash with ISWAP in Sambisa.”
The Lake Chad Basin—straddling Nigeria, Chad, Niger, and Cameroon—remains the turbulent epicenter of jihadist Islamist activity in the region. Here, Boko Haram and ISWAP vie for supremacy over lucrative smuggling corridors, fishing zones, criminal networks, and taxation hubs that finance their terror campaigns.
The renewed Islamist infighting may temporarily weaken the operational capacity of both Takfiri groups. Yet it also threatens to unleash fresh waves of carnage, as each faction seeks to assert dominance through intensified attacks on vulnerable civilian populations.
Adding to Nigeria’s woes, President Donald Trump of America recently warned the central government that he is “tired” of massacres against Christians and will halt all American aid unless the violence stops.
In a strongly worded message, Trump declared: “If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, ‘guns-a-blazing,’ to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities.”
Nigeria remains blighted by Islamist terrorist groups that massacre innocent civilians and rule parts of the nation like a state within a state. Thus, while the latest clashes between Boko Haram and ISWAP may be quietly welcomed in certain corridors of power, they ultimately expose the weakness of the Nigerian armed forces.
Centralized control remains a distant dream for countless Christian and Muslim communities who continue to bear the unbearable weight of this relentless crisis (along with ethnic massacres)—while internal political corruption hinders every genuine attempt at reform and peace.
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