Boko Haram followers are said to be influenced by the Koranic phrase which
says, "Anyone who is not governed by what Allah has revealed is among the
transgressors".

The sect promotes a version of Islam which makes it "haram", or forbidden, for
Muslims to take part in any political or social activity associated with Western
society. This includes voting in elections, wearing shirts and trousers or
receiving a secular education. Boko Haram regards the Nigerian state as being
run by non-believers, even when the country had a Muslim president.
The group's official name is Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad,
which in Arabic means "People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad".
But residents in the north-eastern city of Maiduguri, where the group hitherto
had its headquarters, dubbed it Boko Haram. Loosely translated from the
region's Hausa language, this means "Western education is forbidden."
The charismatic Muslim cleric, Mohammed Yusuf, formed Boko Haram in
Maiduguri in 2002. He set up a religious complex, which included a mosque
and an Islamic school

Many poor Muslim families from across Nigeria, as well as neighbouring
countries, enrolled their children in the school.
But Boko Haram was not only interested in education. Its political goal was to
create an Islamic state, and the school became a recruiting ground for jihadis.
In 2009, Boko Haram carried out a spate of attacks on police stations and
other government buildings in Maiduguri. This led to shoot-outs on Maiduguri's streets. Hundreds of Boko Haram supporters were killed and thousands of residents fled the city.

Security forces eventually seized the group's headquarters, capturing its
fighters and killing Yusuf. His body was shown on state television and the
security forces declared Boko Haram finished.
But its fighters regrouped under a new leader, Abubakar Shekau, and stepped
up their insurgency.

In 2010, the US designated it a terrorist organisation, amid fears that it had
developed links with other militant groups, such as al-Qaeda in the Islamic
Maghreb, to wage a global jihad.
Boko Haram's trademark was originally the use of gunmen on motorbikes,
killing police, politicians and anyone who criticises it, including clerics from
other Muslim traditions and Christian preachers.
The group has also staged more audacious attacks in northern and central
Nigeria, including bombing churches, bus ranks, bars, military barracks and
even the police and UN headquarters in Abuja.
Amid growing concern about the escalating violence, President Goodluck
Jonathan declared a state of emergency in May 2013 in the three northern
states where Boko Haram is the strongest - Borno, Yobe and Adamawa.
It draws its fighters mainly from the Kanuri ethnic group, which is the largest in
the three states.
Most Kanuris have distinctive facial scars and when added to their heavy
Hausa accents, they are easily identifiable to others Nigerians.
As a result, the militants operate mainly in the north-east, where the terrain is
also familiar to them.
The deployment of troops drove many of them out of Maiduguri, their main
urban base and they retreated to the vast Sambisa forest, along the border with Cameroon.
From there, the group's fighters have launched mass attacks on villages,
looting, killing and burning properties in what appeared to be a warning to rural
people not to collaborate with the security forces, as residents of Maiduguri
had done.
Boko Haram has also stepped up its campaign against Western education,
which it believes corrupts the moral values of Muslims, especially girls, by
attacking two boarding schools - in Yobe in March and in Chibok in April.
It abducted more than 270 schoolgirls during the Chibok raid, saying it would
treat them as slaves and marry them off - a reference to an ancient Islamic
belief that women captured in conflict are part of the "war booty".
It made a similar threat in May 2013, when it released a video, saying it had
taken women and children - including teenage girls - hostage in response to
the arrest of its members' wives and children. There was later a prison swap,
with both sides releasing the women and children.
At the same time, Boko Haram has continued with its urban bombing
campaign, targeting Abuja on 14 April, when at least 70 people were killed in an
explosion near a car park and on 2 May when 19 people died.
This shows that not only does Boko Haram have a fighting force of thousands
of men, but also cells that specialise in bombings.

Source: BBC.CO.UK