The Politics of Jihadist Expansion: Sadiku and “Boko Haram” In Northwestern Nigeria
The Politics of Jihadist Expansion: Sadiku and “Boko Haram” In Northwestern Nigeria
James Barnett Vincent Foucher Murtala Ahmed Rufa’i a Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford, Oxford, UKb Laboratoire Les Afriques dans le Monde, National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) – Sciences Po Bordeaux, Paris, Francec Peace and Conflict Studies, Usman Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, NigeriaJames Barnett is a DPhil (PhD) candidate in politics at the University of Oxford and a non-resident fellow at the Centre on Armed Groups in Geneva; Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C.; and the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD West Africa) in Abuja, Nigeria. His doctoral research traces the political roots of conflict in four regions of Nigeria since the country’s return to civilian rule in 1999. Since 2020, he has conducted extensive fieldwork as a researcher, consultant, and journalist across Nigeria as well as in the Horn of Africa. He was previously a 2020-21 Fulbright fellow at the University of Lagos and a 2016-17 Boren Scholar at the University of Dar Es Salaam.Vincent Foucher is a National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) Senior Research Fellow, at the research unit Les Afriques dans le monde (LAM), hosted by the Bordeaux Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po Bordeaux). He holds a PhD in political studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. His doctorate research dealt with the separatist movement in Casamance (South Senegal). He worked as a senior analyst from 2011 to 2017 for the International Crisis Group, covering political transitions in Guinea and Guinea-Bissau and developing a growing interest in Boko Haram.Murtala Ahmed Rufa’i is an Associate Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Nigeria. His research interests include farmer-herder conflict, rural economy, rural banditry, and cross-border security. He presented and published a book, “I Am a Bandit”: A Decade-long Research in the Bandits’ Den of Zamfara State, in 2021. Dr. Rufa’i has conducted research and written reports for the European Union, Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, Center for Democracy and Development (CDD), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) amongst several others.