Boko Haram’s four-year insurgency also indicates that the official institution of Sharia Law by state governments in much of northern Nigeria has not succeeded in mollifying Islamists unhappy with a secular central government — that they perceive to be dominated by Christian southerners. Indeed, radicals like Boko Haram now designate Muslim northerners aligned with the central government as apostates or worse. Meanwhile, religious tensions between Christians and Muslims remain and are prone to outbreaks of communal violence, as demonstrated by the 2008 riots in the north-central city of Jos that left 381 dead and more than 400 injured.

Areas of Boko Haram Operation and/or state-level institution of Sharia Law. (in green)