By Achadu Gabriel, Kaduna
Fresh facts have emerged on how Nigeria’s deadly Boko Haram terror group was formed in the North-Eastern part of the country and trained abroad.
The group, responsible for hundreds, if not thousands of deaths of Nigerians so far, was reportedly formed for the Islamization of Nigeria through violence against Christians and moderate Muslims that stand in its way.
Kicking off its orgy of bloodshed in Yobe State, North-East Nigeria, then gaining a foothold in contiguous Borno State, the terror group spread its gospel of blood, death, destruction, and fear to other parts of the North-East and subsequently the far North before invading the Middle Belt or North-Central.
These were part of a petition dated March 31, 2025, submitted to the United States (U.S) Embassy in Nigeria in support of reports of actions, including public hearing, being undertaken by the US Congress on the subsisting killing of Christians in Nigeria.
In the petition made available to our correspondent weekend, an activist and Director General (DG), Centre for Justice on Religious and Ethnicity in Nigeria, Rev. Kallamu Musa Ali Dikwa, traced the genesis of the terror group to 2002 and 2003 in Yobe State.
Rev. Dikwa attached to the petition a letter dated November 21, 2011, addressed to the then Senate President, Senator David Mark.
It was entitled: ‘Why Boko Haram should be listed as a Terrorists Group by the United States’.
Rev. Dikwa, a Christian convert from Islam, narrated thus: “Boko Haram group as they’re called in Nigeria is not just a subsidiary or branch or an affiliation of terrorist group but a formidable Islamic terrorist institution saddled with the responsibility of Islamizing Nigeria through violence and total annihilation of Christians, and any Muslim that stand on their way.”
According to him, the advent of Boko Haram was sometime about 2002 and 2003 when a group of Muslims were taken to Afghanistan and trained under a fundamental Islamic group otherwise known as Izalatu Bidiah Walkamatul Sunna.
The body, according to, Rev Dikwa petition’s, was known for outdoor preaching which emphasised jihad and the supremacy of the Muslim believer over all other creations on earth.
Part of the letter read: “The Muslims trained later became the leaders of the present Boko Haram group, among them are Muhammed Yusuf, Abubakar Shekkau and Mammam Nur.
“Indeed, they included one of the sons of Borno State former SSG, who was in the third year in the university, amongst many others.”
Dikwa recounted that the group, when formed, were reportedly given a place in Kanama village, Yunusari Local Government Area (LGA) of Yobe State to camp and prepare for the terrorist attacks being witnessed.
The activist alleged that a serving Governor of Yobe State was informed by the SSG (Secretary to the State Government) to take action against the group’s camping in the area, but reportedly replied that “we know they’re staying there and they’re our children.”
Dikwa further alleged that the Governor’s response raised serious concerns indicating that the State Government was in the know about the group’s activities.
The petition added: “After a week of camping they attacked the Police headquarters killing about five Police men. These attacks made the then Federal Government to take a military action against them, wherein they were displaced from the camp.
“They then split into two major groups with one faction led by Mohammed Yusuf who was given a plot of land by his in-law (Fugul) in Maiduguri town where they formed their prominent camp and national headquarters.
“The other faction moved to Gwoza hills and encamped on the hills terrorizing villages, banks and Christian institutions.
“The two factions were not the only camps formed in the Northern part of Nigeria. Some of the trained leaders formed camps in Toro
LGA of Bauchi State and some of them moved to the Hills of Riyom and Barkin Ladi in Plateau State.
“Others did not form camps but stayed in all the State capitals in the North and some major Local Governments Headquarters where 95% of the population were
Muslims. They also formed small groups in all the Southern parts of Nigeria with the aim of taking over the Government of Nigeria
at a blow.”
In a shocking revelation, Dikwa alleged that some unidentified top officials of Borno State government gave a fillip to the group’s activities by enabling the creation of a Ministry for Religious Affairs.
He wrote: “This Ministry does not have any
structure that accommodates the Christian religion which is also a dominating religion in all the 19 Northern States.
“It also does not function normally as all other Ministries where civil servants could be rotated from one Ministry to the other and normal civil service promotion based on academic qualification and years of experience were practiced.
“The Ministry of Religious Affairs had all of its workers on appointments which are all Muslims and does not have any particular goal, or objective for societal development, rather it focused on Islamic propagation.
“These ministries were later replicated in some other state governments such as Yobe, Bauchi states, amongst others.
“In February 2006, the group attacked the Christians in Maiduguri where they burnt down about 56 Churches and over 70 Christians were killed. The state Governor was seen moving on the street and applauding their actions by outpouring Naira notes to them.
“The success in 2006 made them to stage a major attacks. On 27 July, 2009, the first general attacks which were supposed to
take effect in all the Federation started in the night where over 45 Churches were burnt and over 200 Christian houses were visited, killing and maiming them in cold blood which claimed over 170 Christians in one night in Borno state capital.
“They continued to kill for about two
days. When it was daybreak, they attacked some Police establishments, prisons and some Government establishments, all
in Maiduguri.
“Yobe State capital, Damaturu, also experienced the attacks where police stations and Churches were attacked.
“Sporadic attacks took place in Bauchi State afterwards. Other cities could not get the convenience to be attacked at the same time (coordinated attacks)…
“The government attacked their Maiduguri camp after the 27th July attacks and over 800 of them were arrested. Most of them were deliberately kept in Bauchi prison and the government of Bauchi State staged a prisonbreak prior to an Islamic Sallah celebration and over 700 of the Boko Haram inmates broke out.
“The prison break reinforced and revitalized the group’s manpower and government compensated the so-called family of their former leader Mohammed Yusuf with over N100 million which also revived their financial base leading to the acquisition of sophisticated weapons and the advent of IED bombs.
“On the 7th of March 2010, Toro in Bauchi State-trained terrorists attacked a village in Plateau State known as Dogon Nuhauwa where they killed over 500 Christians mostly women and children.
“The camp on the hills of Barkin Ladi/Riyom LGA had been attacked; including several villages of the area who were predominantly Christian in night attacks.”
Rev. Dikwa lamented that, after his detailed letter to the Office of the Senate President, all that his organization received from the Office was a written reply dated February 29, 2012, signed by his Chief of Staff, Sen. Anthony Manzo, that their letter had been referred to the Chairman, Senate Committee on National Security and Intelligence for further necessary action.
According to him, aside the reply, there has been no further updates to date.
Rev. Dikwa lamented the experiences he went through in trying to submit petitions to the U.S. and United Nations (UN) offices in Nigeria, alleging that relevant personnel in both bodies have been dominated by adherents or sympathizers of a particular religious faith.
To him, this made it “absolutely difficult” to allow certain vital documents from some Christian bodies and individuals scale through to the decision-making authorities in powerful bodies.
