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Boko Haram, the Islamic State, and the Surge in Female Abductions in Southeastern Niger

Elizabeth Pearson Orcid Logo, Jacob Zenn

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Swansea University Author: Elizabeth Pearson Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.19156/2021.1.01

Abstract

This paper uses a gendered analysis, alongside original data, to explore an increase in abductions of Muslim women and girls in southeastern Niger between March 2019 and the end of April 2020, and what this indicates about jihadist factional dynamics. These abductions occurred in operational areas h...

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Published in: ICCT Reports
ISSN: 2468-0486
Published: International Centre for Counter-Terrorism - The Hague 2021
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa56106
first_indexed 2021-01-22T19:20:28Z
last_indexed 2021-05-06T03:21:53Z
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spelling 2021-05-05T11:43:21.9321953 v2 56106 2021-01-22 Boko Haram, the Islamic State, and the Surge in Female Abductions in Southeastern Niger b849177199f7a9a44ddecec011c4bf92 0000-0003-0918-6107 Elizabeth Pearson Elizabeth Pearson true false 2021-01-22 This paper uses a gendered analysis, alongside original data, to explore an increase in abductions of Muslim women and girls in southeastern Niger between March 2019 and the end of April 2020, and what this indicates about jihadist factional dynamics. These abductions occurred in operational areas historically associated with Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), which is loyal to Islamic State. Yet, ISWAP condemns its rival faction, Abubakar Shekau-led Boko Haram (Jamaat Ahlus Sunnah Li-Dawa wal-Jihad), for that faction’s abduction and self-described enslavement of Muslim women. As such the abductions are an anomaly. The piece, therefore, considers three alternative possible reasons for the surge of abductions in southeastern Niger during this period. These are: the rise of a new Abubakar Shekau-loyal Boko Haram sub-faction operating in ISWAP’s historical areas of operations in southeastern Niger and around Lake Chad, led by the jihadist commander Bakura; leadership changes in ISWAP beginning in March 2019 that resulted in an ideological shift toward more ‘Shekau-like’ operations; and command-and-control issues, with ISWAP members engaging in abductions without leadership sanction. The paper argues that the new data, alongside a gender analysis of the ideological positions of the jihadist groups in the Lake Chad Basin Area, suggests the emergence of the new Bakura sub-faction contributed most to the increase in abductions of Muslim in southeastern Niger. The finding has implications for understanding the jihadist actors in the region, studying how gender functions in factionalisation, and developing a gendered policy to counter Boko Haram and a counter-terrorism strategy for member-states of the Lake Chad-based Multinational Joint Task Force. ResearchReportExternalBody ICCT Reports International Centre for Counter-Terrorism - The Hague 2468-0486 5 2 2021 2021-02-05 10.19156/2021.1.01 https://icct.nl/publication/boko-haram-the-islamic-state-and-the-surge-in-female-abductions-in-southeastern-niger/ COLLEGE NANME COLLEGE CODE Swansea University 2021-05-05T11:43:21.9321953 2021-01-22T19:17:29.8199987 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Social Sciences - Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy Elizabeth Pearson 0000-0003-0918-6107 1 Jacob Zenn 2 56106__19271__e5c1dc78dd404a4aac2d8389f7de1945.pdf 56106.pdf 2021-02-11T18:00:10.7515654 Output 737565 application/pdf Version of Record true Released under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
title Boko Haram, the Islamic State, and the Surge in Female Abductions in Southeastern Niger
spellingShingle Boko Haram, the Islamic State, and the Surge in Female Abductions in Southeastern Niger
Elizabeth Pearson
title_short Boko Haram, the Islamic State, and the Surge in Female Abductions in Southeastern Niger
title_full Boko Haram, the Islamic State, and the Surge in Female Abductions in Southeastern Niger
title_fullStr Boko Haram, the Islamic State, and the Surge in Female Abductions in Southeastern Niger
title_full_unstemmed Boko Haram, the Islamic State, and the Surge in Female Abductions in Southeastern Niger
title_sort Boko Haram, the Islamic State, and the Surge in Female Abductions in Southeastern Niger
author_id_str_mv b849177199f7a9a44ddecec011c4bf92
author_id_fullname_str_mv b849177199f7a9a44ddecec011c4bf92_***_Elizabeth Pearson
author Elizabeth Pearson
author2 Elizabeth Pearson
Jacob Zenn
format ResearchReportExternalBody
container_title ICCT Reports
publishDate 2021
institution Swansea University
issn 2468-0486
doi_str_mv 10.19156/2021.1.01
publisher International Centre for Counter-Terrorism - The Hague
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str School of Social Sciences - Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Social Sciences - Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy
url https://icct.nl/publication/boko-haram-the-islamic-state-and-the-surge-in-female-abductions-in-southeastern-niger/
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description This paper uses a gendered analysis, alongside original data, to explore an increase in abductions of Muslim women and girls in southeastern Niger between March 2019 and the end of April 2020, and what this indicates about jihadist factional dynamics. These abductions occurred in operational areas historically associated with Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), which is loyal to Islamic State. Yet, ISWAP condemns its rival faction, Abubakar Shekau-led Boko Haram (Jamaat Ahlus Sunnah Li-Dawa wal-Jihad), for that faction’s abduction and self-described enslavement of Muslim women. As such the abductions are an anomaly. The piece, therefore, considers three alternative possible reasons for the surge of abductions in southeastern Niger during this period. These are: the rise of a new Abubakar Shekau-loyal Boko Haram sub-faction operating in ISWAP’s historical areas of operations in southeastern Niger and around Lake Chad, led by the jihadist commander Bakura; leadership changes in ISWAP beginning in March 2019 that resulted in an ideological shift toward more ‘Shekau-like’ operations; and command-and-control issues, with ISWAP members engaging in abductions without leadership sanction. The paper argues that the new data, alongside a gender analysis of the ideological positions of the jihadist groups in the Lake Chad Basin Area, suggests the emergence of the new Bakura sub-faction contributed most to the increase in abductions of Muslim in southeastern Niger. The finding has implications for understanding the jihadist actors in the region, studying how gender functions in factionalisation, and developing a gendered policy to counter Boko Haram and a counter-terrorism strategy for member-states of the Lake Chad-based Multinational Joint Task Force.
published_date 2021-02-05T02:15:23Z
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