Timeline of the Boko Haram insurgency is the chronology of the Boko Haram insurgency, an ongoing armed conflict between Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram (including their offshoot Ansaru) and the Nigerian government. Boko Haram have carried out many attacks against the military, police and civilians since 2009, mostly in Nigeria. The low-intensity conflict is centred on Borno State. It peaked in the mid 2010s, when Boko Haram extended their insurgency into Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
Religious violence before the insurgency
2000
21 February – 23 May – 2000 Kaduna riots – Between 1,000 and 5,000 people are killed in sectarian rioting between Christians and Muslims in Kaduna State following the introduction of Sharia law into that state.
2001
7–17 September – 2001 Jos riots – Nearly 1,000 people are killed following sectarian rioting between Christians and Muslims in Jos, Plateau State.
2002
20–23 November – Miss World riots – Around 250 are killed during rioting by Islamists across northern Nigeria as a response to an article deemed blasphemous. Mohammed Yusuf founds the organization that will become Boko Haram.
2004
4 February – Yelwa massacre – 78 Christians are massacred in Yelwa, Kebbi State. 2 May – Yelwa massacre – Several hundred Muslims are massacred in Yelwa as a reprisal attack from February.
2008
28–29 November – 2008 Jos riots – 381 people are killed in sectarian rioting between Christians and Muslims in Jos.
2010
17 January – 7 March – 2010 Jos riots – Around 992 people are killed in sectarian rioting between Christians and Muslims in Jos.
Timeline of the insurgency
2009
26–29 July – 2009 Boko Haram uprising – Nearly 1,000 people were killed in clashes between Boko Haram militants and Nigerian soldiers in four locations in the northern Nigeria – Bauchi in Bauchi State, Maiduguri in Borno State, Potiskum in Yobe State and Wudil in Kano State – beginning the Boko Haram insurgency. 30 July – Mohammed Yusuf, spiritual leader of Boko Haram, was summarily executed in Maiduguri by the Nigerian Police after he had been handed over to them by Nigerian soldiers a day following the recent uprising. Abubakar Shekau takes control of the movement.
2010
5 September – Boko Haram attacked a village killing a police officer and injuring a warden. 7 September – Bauchi prison break – Five people were killed and 721 inmates freed from prison in Bauchi by gunmen suspected to be from Boko Haram. 21 September – Boko Haram killed a village chief and a trader in Maiduguri. 6 October – Boko Haram assassinated the national vice-chairman of the All Nigeria Peoples Party in front of his house and attempted to kill the speaker of the Borno State House of Assembly, killing a policeman instead. 7 October – A senior staff of Bama Local Council in Borno was assassinated by Boko Haram gunmen. 9 October – Islamic scholar Sheikh Bashir Mustapha and Bashir Kashara were killed by Boko Haram. 10 October – A 10-year-old boy was beheaded by Boko Haram. 13 October – While attempting to assassinate Bauchi State official, Boko Haram killed a policeman. 20 October – Boko Haram killed a police inspector. 23 October – Boko Haram attempted to set a police station on fire, but were pushed back leading to the death of one of their members. 13 November – Two Boko Haram members riding a motorcycle killed a soldier at the 231 Battalion of a Nigerian Army base. 19 November – Boko Haram opened fire on a mosque, killing three people. 24 November – Boko Haram killed a policeman and a soldier who were on their way home. 24 December – 2010 Jos and Maiduguri attacks – 80 people were killed in a series of bombings in the city of Jos. 29 December Boko Haram killed three police officers and two civilians in Maiduguri. Boko Haram opened fire on the All Nigeria Peoples Party, killing eight people. 31 December – December 2010 Abuja attack – A bomb attack outside a barracks in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, killed four civilians.