News

Nigeria Situation Briefing: February – August 2015

7 September 2015

Previous HART Intern, Elisabeth Pramendorfer, has prepared a comprehensive briefing documenting the humanitarian situation in Nigeria between February and August 2015. You can download it in full at the bottom of this page.

Key  developments  

• Muhammadu  Buhari   won  the  presidential  elections  (first  democratic  elections  with   an  opposition   candidate  succeeding)  in  March  2015  and  was  inaugurated  as  President  in  May  2015.

• Boko  Haram   pledged  allegiance  to   ISIS  (the  Islamic  State  of  Syria  and  Iraq).  This   is  an  important   development,  as  it  will  most  likely  further  increase  international  support  for  regional  counter-­‐insurgency   operations.

• By  March  2015,  Nigeria  and  its  neighbouring  allies  (Chad,  Cameroon,  Niger)  recaptured  most  of  former   Boko  Haram  territory.  Simultaneously,  the  Islamist  jihadists  resorted  to  increasing  attacks  on  civilian   places  (mosques,  churches,  markets,  villages).  Killings  and  abductions  take  place  on  an  almost  daily   basis.

• A  regional  country  coalition,  called  the  Multinational  Joint  Task  Force,  was  agreed  upon  in  early  2015   and  will  comprise  8,700  troops  from  Nigeria,  Niger,  Cameroon,  Chad  and  Benin.  The  headquarters  will   be  located  in  N’Djamena,  Chad.  Operations  should  have  started  at  the  end  of  July  but  have  not  yet   begun  due  to  both  a  lack  of  political  will  from  member  states  and  gaps  in  funding.

• Boko  Haram,  in  the  past  months,  has  largely  extended  its  territory  of  attacks  into  further  parts  of  Nigeria   and  neighbouring  Niger  (in  particular  Diffa  region),  Cameroon  (Far  North  Region)  and  Chad  (the  capital   N’Djamena,  and  Lake  Chad  area).  The  upsurge  in  attacks  in  Cameroon,  Niger  and  Chad  are  both  a  cause   and  a  consequence  of  the  plans  to  establish  the  regional  country  coalition.

• Amnesty  International  has  accused  the   Nigerian  army  of  war  crimes  and  possible  crimes  against   humanity  in  their  fight  against  Boko  Haram.

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