RFI: Behind the dark veil of Boko Haram’s leadership

August 05, 2016

Clea Broadhurst, journalist with Radio France International, asked Yan St-Pierre to comment on the leadership struggle within Boko Haram.

According to Yan St-Pierre, a counter terrorism adviser who works for a group called Modern Security in Berlin, IS saw this as an opportunity to say ‘look, this is our man, this is how it goes, we call the shot’. There is still a strong component within Boko Haram that is still behind Shekau, and he says ‘no, we’re still here, we’re still vocal, his audio message mentioned clearly Boko Haram by its original name, instead of referring to its IS’s name, although he did still call al-Baghdadi the Calif… but it shows that the power struggle is going on, and it appeared a necessity within that internal process to either try to put an end to it or bring it to the next phase.”

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According to Yan St-Pierre, IS also has to show it is still going strong, because they are losing ground in the Middle East. “It’s a very big foothold in West Africa. IS has problems in Libya, they have problems in their own backyards in the Middle East, in Syria and Irak. Boko Haram is sort of the getaway to West Africa and a lot of problems that are there,” St-Pierre said. “There are a lot of unstable governments, there’s a security vaccum in that area, so by using Boko Haram as a door, a possibility to access the west african market, they open doors to more territory, another market, and more resources, in another area where they can try to implement themselves and their ideology.”

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St-Pierre said this could be a serious advantage for the Nigerian army. “Boko Haram, depending on how bad it becomes internally, will likely be fighting each other, it could become a very violent leadership struggle, and this is going to play into the hands of the army.” He said this could be a way to weaken the organisation, long enough to make them have to readapt and need many years to become a relevant player again.

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