Visual Timelines · 2002–2026
A preacher's movement in Maiduguri became, after a police crackdown in 2009, one of the deadliest armed groups in the world. Within six years it had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and carried its war into Niger, Chad and Cameroon.
Then it broke apart. This timeline follows how Boko Haram turned into two rival organisations — JAS and the Islamic State West Africa Province — and why, more than two decades on, the north-east and the Lake Chad basin are still at war.
Photo: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain (NASA) · original
A movement in Maiduguri
After civilian rule returned in 1999, twelve northern states adopted Sharia criminal law by 2002. In Maiduguri the Salafi preacher Mohammed Yusuf built a following that called itself Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad (JAS); outsiders called it Boko Haram. In December 2003 a breakaway commune attacked a police post at Kanamma, in Yobe, and was crushed within days.
A movement in Maiduguri
Clashes between Yusuf's followers and the security forces spread across Bauchi, Borno, Yobe and Kano states. More than 800 people died in five days, most of them in Maiduguri, according to Human Rights Watch. Yusuf was captured alive on 30 July and died in police custody the same day. Police said he was shot while trying to escape.
Shekau's war
In a video that surfaced in June 2010, Yusuf's deputy Abubakar Shekau announced that he now led the movement. On 7 September fighters stormed the federal prison in Bauchi and freed more than 700 inmates, about a hundred of them members. The group turned to shootings and bombings against police, officials and Muslim clerics who criticised it.
Shekau's war
In June a car bomb exploded at the national police headquarters in Abuja; a self-described Boko Haram spokesman claimed it. On 26 August a bomber drove through two gates into UN House in the capital's diplomatic zone, killing 23 people, 11 of them UN staff. The group now struck federal and international targets far from Maiduguri.
Shekau's war
President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa on 14 May 2013. In June, young men in Maiduguri formed the Civilian Joint Task Force to work alongside the security forces; Borno later paid its members. In November the United States designated Boko Haram and Ansaru, a splinter that had announced itself in Kano in January 2012, as terrorist organisations.
Shekau's war
Fighters raided the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno, at night and took 276 students; 57 escaped soon after. Shekau claimed the abduction on video and threatened to sell them. #BringBackOurGirls became a worldwide campaign. Twenty-one were freed in October 2016 and 82 in May 2017, in exchange for detained suspects. About 90 are still missing.
Shekau's war
Boko Haram overran Gwoza on 6 August 2014. In a video released on 24 August, Shekau declared the town part of an Islamic state, which AFP translated as a caliphate. Bama and Mubi fell within weeks. By February 2015, Amnesty International reported, the group controlled most of Borno and parts of Adamawa and Yobe; it had killed more than 4,000 civilians in 2014.
A regional war
Fighters seized the military base at Baga, nominally the headquarters of the regional task force, then attacked Baga and neighbouring Doron Baga. Satellite images analysed by Amnesty International showed more than 3,700 structures damaged or destroyed. Amnesty reported hundreds of civilians killed; Nigeria's Defence Headquarters said deaths did not exceed about 150, fighters included.
A regional war
On 29 January the African Union authorised a Multinational Joint Task Force of up to 7,500 troops. Chadian soldiers crossed into Nigeria at Gamboru on 3 February. Boko Haram struck Bosso and Diffa in Niger on 6 February and Ngouboua in Chad on 13 February. In March the AU raised the force's ceiling to 10,000 and set its headquarters in N'Djamena.
A regional war
An audio message attributed to Shekau pledged allegiance to the Islamic State's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. On 12 March an IS spokesman accepted it, and the group became the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). Weeks later Muhammadu Buhari defeated President Jonathan in elections delayed for security reasons — the first time a Nigerian incumbent lost at the ballot box.
Two organisations
The Islamic State's newsletter al-Naba named Abu Musab al-Barnawi, a son of Mohammed Yusuf, governor of its West Africa Province. Shekau refused to step aside and his followers went back to the JAS name. The dispute turned on Shekau's treatment of Muslim civilians as legitimate targets. ISWAP built its base around Lake Chad; JAS held on in Sambisa Forest.
Two organisations
Fighters abducted 110 schoolgirls from the Government Girls Science and Technical College in Dapchi, Yobe. A month later most of them were driven back into the town after back-channel talks; the government said no ransom was paid. About five reportedly died in captivity. Leah Sharibu, a Christian student who refused to convert, has not been reported released.
Two organisations
Insurgents overran a Chadian army position on the Boma peninsula, in the Lac province of Lake Chad, after hours of fighting. President Idriss Déby said at least 92 soldiers were killed, the deadliest attack on Chad's army, and personally led a counter-offensive. In November 2020 JAS killed at least 76 farm workers near Zabarmari, outside Maiduguri, and claimed it.
After Shekau
Cornered by ISWAP fighters in Sambisa Forest, Shekau killed himself with an explosive vest, according to Crisis Group and ISWAP's own audio. Thousands of JAS members surrendered — at least 2,000 fighters and more than 30,000 civilians by early 2022. Holdouts regrouped under rival commanders on Lake Chad islands and in the Mandara mountains, and kept fighting ISWAP.
After Shekau
Attackers blew open the Kuje medium-security prison on the outskirts of Abuja and 879 inmates escaped. ISWAP claimed the raid on video the next day; Crisis Group describes it as the climax of the group's first campaign in central Nigeria. A month earlier the government had blamed ISWAP for the Owo church massacre, which no group ever claimed.
After Shekau
On 24 January suspected ISWAP fighters overran the army base at Malam-Fatori, killing at least 20 soldiers. An analysts' count found at least 16 bases overrun by June; armed drones had appeared in December 2024. In April Borno's governor warned that the state was 'losing ground'. In March Niger announced its withdrawal from the regional task force.
After Shekau
US Africa Command announced strikes on Islamic State camps in Sokoto State, in coordination with Nigerian authorities. The main target appears to have been Bauni Forest, in Tangaza near the Niger border, an area of the Lakurawa group, which a Nigerian court had proscribed in January 2025. The UN links Lakurawa to the Islamic State in the Sahel; other analysts dispute it.
After Shekau
On 3–4 March fighters abducted more than 400 people from Ngoshe, near Gwoza; about 360 women, children and elderly people were freed in June. On 16 March three suicide bombings at a hospital entrance, a market and the post office area of Maiduguri killed 23 people, police said. Suicide bombing had resurfaced in June 2024, when attacks in Gwoza killed 32.
After Shekau
A joint Nigerian–US operation at Metele killed Abu Bilal al-Mainuki, who according to the UN headed the Islamic State's directorate of provinces. US officials called him the group's second in command. Follow-up strikes hit ISWAP positions, and most US troops deployed for the operation had left by July. ISWAP remained the Islamic State's most active affiliate.
Scroll or drag the timeline; use the arrow keys between events. Select an event for details, map and sources.
Boko Haram began as a Maiduguri problem. Within four years it was striking the federal capital, kidnapping foreigners in Cameroon and attacking Niger and Chad across the lake. Each arc below joins Maiduguri to the first documented attack in a new place; press play to watch the sequence.
Suicide car bombs hit the police headquarters and UN House in Abuja, more than 600 km from Maiduguri.
Uncertainty: The police headquarters bombing was claimed by a self-described spokesman; UN House is attributed to Boko Haram by the UN and the US.
Coordinated attacks on police and government offices in northern Nigeria's largest city killed at least 185 people (Human Rights Watch). Days later Ansaru announced its split.
Uncertainty: Other counts range from 143 to 186.
A French family of seven was kidnapped near Waza National Park, in Cameroon's Far North, and taken into Nigeria. They were freed in April.
Uncertainty: France denied paying a ransom; others alleged one was paid.
Fighters attacked the home of Cameroon's vice prime minister and abducted his wife and the local traditional leader. Cameroon already had more than 1,000 soldiers on the border.
Uncertainty: Attributed by Cameroonian officials and the press; no claim was found.
The fall of the Baga base opened the Nigerian shore of Lake Chad to the group.
Uncertainty: The death toll is disputed: hundreds according to Amnesty International, about 150 according to the army.
The first attacks inside Niger. Niger's defence minister reported 109 attackers, 4 soldiers and 1 civilian killed; Chadian troops fought alongside.
Uncertainty: The figures come from Niger's government only.
Fighters crossed the lake by boat and attacked the village of Ngouboua — the first attack inside Chad.
Uncertainty: Officials reported two dead; a security source, five.
Suicide bombings at the police headquarters and police academy killed 23 people and four attackers. A market bombing on 11 July killed at least 15 and was claimed in the name of the Islamic State's West Africa Province.
Uncertainty: The June attacks were attributed by Chad's government; only the July bombing was claimed.
ISWAP's claimed prison raid on the edge of the capital: the conflict's reach was no longer confined to the north-east.
The shaded provinces — Borno, Yobe and Adamawa in Nigeria, Far North in Cameroon, Diffa in Niger and Lac in Chad — are the area covered by the UN's Lake Chad Basin humanitarian response (OCHA, April 2026), shown for reference only.
'Boko Haram' is a name used by outsiders for several organisations. Each line shows when a group is documented as active; numbered marks are the splits, pledges and deaths that reshaped them. Attacks in this timeline are attributed to a specific group only when a claim, a court or a consistent body of sources supports it.
Documented activityReported, assessed or disputedNumbered turning points
Between March 2015 and August 2016 the whole movement operated under the ISWAP name, so the JAS line breaks. Hatched bars: activity that is reported or disputed, not established in detail.
Each map shows the places of the events of one phase in colour, and those of earlier phases in grey. They show the reach of the conflict, not territorial control: no open source maps the groups' control in a consistent, dated way.
Tolls are the figures given by the cited sources; where counts differ, the range or the competing figures are given.
'Boko Haram' is a nickname used by outsiders; the group called itself Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad (JAS). After 2016 this timeline uses JAS for Shekau's faction and its successors, and ISWAP for the Islamic State's West Africa Province. Attacks are attributed to a specific group only when it claimed them or a court or consistent sources say so.
Terrorism, here, means violence by a non-state group against civilians or symbolic targets to intimidate a population or pressure a government. Fighting between armed groups and the state is armed conflict. Abuses by security forces, such as the 2009 killings, are recorded as such and never labelled terrorism.
Every event rests on at least one identified document. Links open the original source; certainty labels follow the portal's source and confidence criteria.
1 · A preacher's movement in Maiduguri
Places: Maiduguri
Uncertainty: Sources date the movement's founding to 2002 (Amnesty International) or 2003 (Hudson Institute). The Kanamma group had split from Yusuf's circle; his own role in it is not established.
Photograph: a street market in Maiduguri, July 2019.
Photo: Ifeatu Nnaobi · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · original
2 · Uprising, crackdown and Yusuf's death
Places: Maiduguri · Bauchi
Uncertainty: Tolls range from more than 800 (Human Rights Watch) to over 1,100 (Brookings). Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International describe Yusuf's death as an extrajudicial execution; no court has ruled on it.
In February 2010 Al Jazeera aired separate footage of police executing unarmed men in Maiduguri. Photograph: the city gate of Maiduguri, 2019.
Photo: Ifeatu Nnaobi · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · original
3 · Shekau takes over and strikes back
Places: Bauchi
Uncertainty: Counts of escaped prisoners range from more than 700 (Human Rights Watch) to 800–900 (Al Jazeera). The prison raid was attributed by the authorities, not formally claimed.
Photograph: Bauchi, capital of Bauchi State, seen from above, September 2016.
Photo: Lucky Uwakwe · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · original
4 · Suicide bombings reach Abuja
Places: Abuja
Uncertainty: Tolls for UN House range from 21 to 25; 23 is the UN's own figure. The June bombing is widely described as Nigeria's first suicide attack, an analysts' assessment rather than an official finding.
Photograph: The National Mosque in Abuja, the federal capital, February 2015.
Photo: Mark Fischer · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0 · original
5 · State of emergency and the Civilian JTF
Places: Maiduguri
Human Rights Watch saw boys of about 15 to 17 at Civilian JTF checkpoints. The UN Security Council's sanctions committee listed Boko Haram in May 2014. Photograph: Nigerian soldiers at a US-led training exercise in Diffa, Niger, March 2014.
Photo: LTJG Amy Forsythe, US Navy · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain (US military) · original
6 · Chibok: 276 schoolgirls abducted
Places: Chibok
Amnesty International reported that the military had hours of warning and sent no reinforcements; the military rejected the claim. Counts of those still missing differ: 87 according to the parents and 89 according to the Murtala Muhammed Foundation (April 2026); at least 91 according to a UN women's rights committee (2025). Photograph: Michelle Obama, then US First Lady, 7 May 2014.
Photo: Office of the First Lady of the United States · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain (US government) · original
7 · Taking towns: Gwoza and the 'caliphate' claim
Places: Gwoza · Bama
Uncertainty: Some analysts argue that Shekau spoke of a 'state', not a caliphate. The extent of control is Amnesty International's description; no verified, dated map of it exists, so none is drawn here.
Photograph: ruins of the police station in Bama, July 2019.
Photo: Ifeatu Nnaobi · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · original
8 · Baga, on the shore of Lake Chad
Places: Baga
Uncertainty: The toll is disputed. Reports relayed by Amnesty spoke of up to 2,000 dead, but Amnesty's own wording was 'hundreds'. Chad and Niger had already withdrawn their troops from the Baga base.
Photograph: Lake Chad seen from the International Space Station, February 2015.
Photo: NASA (ISS Expedition 42) · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain (NASA) · original
9 · The war becomes regional
Places: Gamboru · Ngouboua · N'Djamena
Photograph: a Chadian army pick-up in Diffa, Niger, around March 2015.
Photo: Idriss Fall, VOA · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain (VOA) · original
10 · Allegiance to the Islamic State
Neither recording could be authenticated when it was released; the group's later conduct confirmed both. Photograph: President Muhammadu Buhari at the US Department of State, 21 July 2015, seven weeks after taking office.
Photo: US Department of State · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain (US government) · original
11 · The split: ISWAP and JAS
Places: Sambisa Forest
In December 2015 President Buhari had said the group was 'technically' defeated. Crisis Group estimated in 2019 that ISWAP had 3,500–5,000 fighters and JAS 1,500–2,000, and found that ISWAP's taxes were generally accepted where it ruled. Photograph: Lake Chad and the borders of Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon, seen by NASA's Terra satellite on 16 January 2017.
Photo: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain (NASA) · original
12 · Dapchi: a second school abduction
Places: Dapchi
Uncertainty: Responsibility rests on government and media attribution to ISWAP, which returned the girls; there was no formal claim. Officials first counted 101 freed, later 104.
In November and December 2018 ISWAP overran army bases at Metele and Baga; the army withheld its Metele toll for days, while local media reported up to 113 soldiers killed.
13 · Boma: Chad's heaviest loss
Uncertainty: Chad attributed the Boma attack to Boko Haram; which faction carried it out is not established. The UN's first count of 110 dead at Zabarmari was withdrawn.
The Boma position is not mapped: open sources give no reliable coordinates. Photograph: Chadian forces in N'Djamena on 13 April 2020, after the end of the operation.
Photo: André Kodmadjingar, VOA · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain (VOA) · original
14 · Shekau dies; JAS breaks up
Places: Sambisa Forest
ISWAP's audio placed the death around 18 May. The Nigerian army said it was investigating and never formally confirmed it — it had wrongly announced Shekau's death several times before. Photograph: Nigerian soldiers at a camp in Sambisa Forest during army exercises, March 2017 (frame from a VOA video).
Photo: Hussaina Muhammad, VOA · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain (VOA) · original
16 · Kuje: ISWAP strikes the capital
Places: Kuje · Owo
In June 2026 a federal court sentenced four men to death for the Owo attack, in which at least 40 people died, as members of a Kogi State cell the prosecution called 'Al-Shabaab', not ISWAP. Photograph: Abuja, the federal capital, with the National Mosque in the distance, 2004.
Photo: Jeff Attaway · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0 · original
17 · ISWAP's war on army bases
Places: Malam-Fatori
Uncertainty: Not every overrun has been independently confirmed; the count of 16 bases comes from an analysts' report. Niger had suspended its participation after the July 2023 coup.
In July 2025 the UN Monitoring Team reported that some states put ISWAP at 8,000–12,000 members. Photograph: A Multinational Joint Task Force pick-up in Bosso, Niger, 19 April 2017.
Photo: Nicolas Pinault, VOA · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain (VOA) · original
18 · US strikes in Sokoto
Places: Tangaza
Uncertainty: Who was hit and how many died have not been verified; AFRICOM reported 'multiple' IS fighters killed. The Institute for Security Studies says Lakurawa is not an Islamic State affiliate.
Photograph: A US Army instructor teaches Nigerian soldiers combat casualty care at Operating Location Bauchi, 2 April 2026.
Photo: SETAF Africa, US Army · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain (US military) · original
19 · Mass abduction and bombings return
Places: Ngoshe · Maiduguri
Uncertainty: No group claimed the Maiduguri bombings. The UN Monitoring Team attributes the Ngoshe abduction to JAS; whether a ransom was paid is unconfirmed.
Photograph: Rocky hills near Gwoza, at the edge of the Mandara mountains, Borno State, July 2026.
20 · A senior IS commander killed near Lake Chad
Places: Metele
The UN Monitoring Team counted more than 174 ISWAP attacks between January and May 2026, more than in the same months of 2025; ACLED recorded more than 300 clashes involving the two groups around Lake Chad in the first quarter, up 30% on the previous quarter. Photograph: the AFRICOM commander, Gen. Dagvin Anderson, with Nigeria's chiefs of defence and army staff in Abuja, 8 February 2026.
Photo: Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth Tucceri, US Army · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain (US military) · original
Events were selected for the structural change they mark — in leadership, organisation or geographic reach — rather than for their death toll alone. Each one rests on at least one primary or independent source; UN and African Union documents, government records, research by Crisis Group, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and academic authors, and contemporaneous reporting were preferred in that order.
Figures are given only when an identified source publishes them; estimates and official claims are labelled. Where sources disagree on a date, a toll or the group responsible, the entry says so. Places are mapped as points from Wikidata, or OpenStreetMap where marked; no area of control is drawn. Information is current to 15 October 2026.
