Nigeria: Boko Haram's Gwoza 'Caliphate' Demonstrates Group's Increasing Power

10 September 2014
analysis

On 24th August a video surfaced featuring the Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau boasting about his organization's exploits in northeast Nigeria. Shekau went on to state that the town of Gwoza, an area with a Christian population, is now under Boko Haram control and ruled by 'Islamic law.'

The statement was surprising in that, until recently, Boko Haram has made little attempt to hold territory during the course of its five year struggle, and Shekau's words echoed the Islamic State's declaration of a caliphate under Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in late June.

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