This explosion of violence in 2009 set a dangerous precedent for the next 5 years. The death of their leader Mohammed Yusuf didn’t cripple the group whatsoever, in fact it seems to have spurred them on even more, under the leadership of Abubakar Shekau. Between 2009 and 2014 Boko Haram unleashed a murderous regime of car bombings, suicide bombings and mass shootings on UN buildings, police and governmental buildings, churches, schools and other public places.

This has resulted in the deaths of over 5,000 people, and the displacement of over 1.5 million people. To put the statistics into perspective once again, 3,530 people were killed in The Troubles in Northern Ireland, in a period of time over twice as long as the length of time Boko Haram have been active. At the time of writing (3/2/2015) Boko Haram still control 50,000 square kilometres of Northern Nigeria, including their home state of Borno.

The Nigerian security forces have been largely ineffctive at stopping the violence, and the problem is a long way away from disappearing. This year alone Boko Haram have carried out over 16 attacks across the country, including the complete razing of the town of Baga which resulted in over 2,000 deaths. There is some good news however, a multi-national African Coalition force of 7,500 troops is on it’s way to Nigeria to hopefully kick some Boko Haram arse. Hopefully this will result in Boko Haram fucking off and never showing their faces again. Hopefully.