09:00, 01-May-2018
Nigeria Security: Boko Haram militants remain the country's biggest threat
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The Boko Haram militant group remains Nigeria's biggest threat to security. The country has in the past asked for U.S. assistance to fight the militants. It received hundreds of millions of dollars from America, and despite great gains against the militants, Boko Haram remains a threat to the entire region.
The most wanted man in West Africa.
Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has presided over a campaign that's spread terror across the region. And his group is classed as one of the deadliest terror organisations of modern times -certainly one of the deadliest ISIL affiliates.
20 thousand or more dead, millions driven from their homes, an entire region reduced to ruin.
Boko Haram began its terror campaign eight years ago to push for a caliphate in Nigeria. It drew its recruits from disaffected youth, and the heavy-handed response from the security forces drove more into its ranks. At its peak, Boko Haram controlled huge swathes of Nigeria's north-east.
It's taken the combined military might of Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon to drive the militants back. Nigeria's government has declared Boko Haram a beaten force. But Boko Haram is still potent.