The chronicles of Boko Haram raids — and the question of a Christian genocide

Methodology and sources

This article synthesises: field investigations and reports by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch; incident and fatality datasets (ACLED, EUAA analysis using ACLED/Nigeria Watch); major international reporting (Reuters, AP, Washington Post); UN and regional agency findings; and scholarly/think-tank analyses (Chatham House, Soufan Centre). Where possible I give dates, locations and source links for major incidents. The piece emphasises publicly available, verifiable reporting rather than political claims. (Key documents used: Amnesty 2015 report “Our job is to shoot, slaughter and kill”; HRW investigations 2014–2016; ACLED briefs; EUAA country focus; Reuters/AP reporting on major incidents.)

Legal framing: genocide vs crimes against humanity vs war crimes

Genocide, under the 1948 Genocide Convention, requires the proven intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group. Legal proof of intent is the central high bar.
Crimes against humanity (murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, persecution, etc.) and war crimes require patterns of widespread or systematic attacks on civilians or breaches of the laws of war; they do not require proof of specific intent to eliminate a group altogether.
Human-rights organisations that have investigated Boko Haram (Amnesty, HRW) have concluded that the group has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity—mass executions, rape and sexual slavery, forced recruitment and extensive attacks on civilian populations—based on patterns of systematic violence. Those findings are robust in public documentation. Whether the term genocide fits legally remains contested in public sources: some commentators and politicians call parts of Boko Haram’s campaign a “genocide” of Christians; independent human-rights investigations have stopped short of a universal genocide label, documenting crimes against humanity while noting that victims include both Christians and Muslims.

Patterns of Boko Haram violence (high-level)

Across the documented record, the group’s modus operandi has included:

Massacres and mass executions during raids on towns and villages (shootings, beheadings, burning).
Mass abductions, especially of schoolchildren and women (Chibok, Damasak, thousands documented between 2014–2016).
Targeting of education and schools (attacks on teachers, students, burning schools) as part of the group’s ideological opposition to “Western” education.
Attacks on places of worship (churches and clerics attacked; churches burned), often combined with village raids.
Territorial occupations (2013–2015) in which Boko Haram established control, levied “taxes”, and used towns as bases — enabling sustained predation and population displacement.

Major raids, massacres and incidents — a timeline (select, documented events)

Below are the most significant and well-documented incidents that illustrate the scale and pattern of attacks. (This is not exhaustive; it highlights the major attacks typically cited in reports and analyses.)

2009 – Emergence and brutal repression

July 2009 — The original Boko Haram uprising is crushed; founder Mohammed Yusuf is captured and extrajudicially killed by security forces. The heavy state crackdown radicalised the movement and set the stage for later violence.

2013–2015 — Peak territorial control and mass attacks

April 2013 (and earlier 2013) — A series of massacres and town attacks intensify; Baga earlier suffered attacks in 2013. Human Rights Watch and other investigators document attacks on civilians and mass displacement.
25 February 2014 — Buni Yadi boarding school (Yobe State): gunmen killed dozens of male students (widely reported figure: ~59 schoolboys killed). This attack became one of many that highlighted Boko Haram’s explicit targeting of educational institutions.
14 April 2014 — Chibok abductions (Borno State): Boko Haram abducted 276 schoolgirls from Government Secondary School, Chibok. The mass kidnapping drew global attention and emblematic campaigns such as #BringBackOurGirls. Hundreds of other abductions occurred elsewhere.
May 2014 — Gwoza and surrounding attacks: multiple attacks and church burnings in Borno; reports of scores killed and several churches attacked.
24 Nov 2014 – Mar 2015 — Damasak occupation and executions: Boko Haram seized and occupied Damasak (near the Niger border) late 2014; HRW and other sources documented mass executions and killings during occupation, with hundreds killed.
3–7 January 2015 — Baga massacre: widely documented (Amnesty satellite imagery, HRW witness interviews) as one of the bloodiest episodes; reported death tolls vary widely (from dozens to, by some survivor claims, hundreds or thousands). Amnesty’s satellite imagery showed large conflagrations and destruction consistent with an enormous attack.

2015–2019 — Territory lost but asymmetric deadly attacks continue

2015 — Some Boko Haram factions pledge allegiance to IS (Islamic State); the group later splits, with ISWAP emerging as a separate, sometimes more focused faction. The era saw the Nigerian military and regional forces retake much territory but not eliminate the insurgents.
2016 onward — Attacks continue across a wide area; mass killings, suicide bombings, and abductions remain frequent. Human Rights Watch continued to document attacks on civilians and forced recruitment.

2020–2021 — Deadly mass attacks on civilians and farmers

28 Nov 2020 — Koshebe/Koshobe massacre: gunmen attacked rice farmers near Maiduguri in Borno State and killed at least 110 people in one of the deadliest single attacks in recent years. Multiple outlets and UN/regional bodies reported and condemned the massacre.
2020–2022 — Recurrent raids on villages, attacks on markets and targeted killings (including attacks around Zabarmari / Zabarmari farmers), and Christmas-time attacks in 2020 targeted communities — some of them predominantly Christian villages — with dozens killed.

2022 — Owo church attack and later prosecutions (legal aftermath)

5 June 2022 — Owo church massacre (Ondo State): gunmen attacked a Catholic church service, killing dozens. Responsibility was initially unclear; militant Islamist groups were suspected and Nigerian security services investigated. In 2025, Nigerian courts arraigned suspects in connection with a June 2022 Catholic church massacre (Reuters reporting on 11 Aug 2025 notes arraignments connected to a June 2022 mass killing attributed to Islamist militants). This case shows the multi-year path from attack to prosecution.

2023–mid-2025 — Continued violence, displacement and warnings of atrocity risk

2023–2024 — ACLED and EUAA analyses show rising violence against civilians and a persistent high toll of fatalities in Borno and other states; humanitarian agencies report continued displacement and chronic insecurity. Global risk watchers (Global R2P, others) have identified Nigeria as at elevated risk of atrocity crimes due to escalating attacks by both Boko Haram/ISWAP and bandit groups.

Evidence regarding attacks on Christians specifically

Targeting of Christians is documented: reports and media document repeated attacks on churches, Christians killed in village raids and church burnings (e.g., Gwoza 2014, attacks on Christian villages and churches, Christmas-period raids in predominantly Christian villages). Amnesty, HRW and reporting have given multiple case studies documenting attacks on Christian worshippers and communities.
Scale and distribution of victims: independent datasets (ACLED, HRW analyses) report that victims are not exclusively Christian; many victims are Muslim civilians (including clans, ethnic groups, vigilantes, and people killed by both Boko Haram and government/paramilitary reprisals). Scholarly work warns against a simplistic “Christian genocide” frame because the conflict includes ethno-religious, criminal and political drivers and Muslim victims are numerous in some periods. Still, in many localities — especially mixed or predominantly Christian settlements near the Lake Chad fringes — Christian civilians have been disproportionately victimised in specific raids and church attacks.

Has Boko Haram committed “genocide” of Christians?

Human-rights organisations’ position: major human-rights reports have documented war crimes and crimes against humanity (murder, enslavement, rape, sexual slavery, forced conscription of children). Amnesty International explicitly characterised Boko Haram’s conduct as crimes against humanity and urged prosecutions; HRW documented mass killings and recommended accountability. These findings are strong and legally significant.
Genocide label: applying the legal term “genocide” requires evidence that Boko Haram had specific intent to destroy Christians (as a religious group) “in whole or in part.” Public human-rights investigations generally avoid declaring a full genocide across the theatre; instead they document mass atrocities, systematic attacks and persecution. Some politicians, commentators and victim groups call parts of the campaign a genocide of Christians; others (including many independent investigators) caution that the available public evidence supports crimes against humanity and ethnic/religiously-tinged mass killings but does not universally demonstrate the specific legal intent required for genocide in every context. Put simply: atrocity crimes are well documented; whether they legally amount to genocide in every case remains disputed and requires legal adjudication.

Human impact — numbers, displacement and social consequences

Fatalities: estimates vary by source and period. HRW and other investigations estimated thousands of civilian deaths in 2013–2015 alone (HRW estimated at least ~2,000 in the first half of 2014 and Amnesty cited thousands across 2014). Cumulative civilian fatalities across 2009–2024 number in the tens of thousands (some sources cite ~30–35k civilian deaths up to 2024/2025 when including battles, remote violence, and mass attacks).
Displacement: more than 2 million people displaced within Nigeria and hundreds of thousands fled to Cameroon, Chad and Niger (UN and humanitarian reporting). Thousands of villages were burned, whole communities displaced and livelihoods destroyed (fishing, farming, markets).
Abductions and sexual violence: Amnesty and HRW documented the abduction of thousands of women and girls (Chibok and many other cases), forced marriages, sexual slavery and recruitment of child soldiers.

Why confusion and contested narratives arise

Complex local dynamics. Violence is entangled with ethnic competition, banditry and communal conflict — not all incidents are clear-cut jihadist-vs-Christian episodes.
Multiple perpetrators. In addition to Boko Haram/ISWAP, armed bandits and communal militias (and sometimes security-force abuses) have contributed to civilian deaths, complicating attribution. Human-rights reports document abuses by state forces as well.
Political uses of language. The term “genocide” is also used as a political claim to mobilise foreign attention; independent investigators and legal experts are more cautious because of legal standards of proof.
Data gaps and differing methodologies. Fatality counts and victim-group classifications differ between ACLED, NGO reports, government statements and local tallies, producing varying narratives.

Selected case studies (brief, documented examples)

Chibok (14 April 2014) — schoolgirl abductions

What happened: 276 girls abducted from a boarding school in Chibok, Borno state. International attention followed. Some girls escaped or were later freed; hundreds remained missing for years. The abduction and others like it were part of a pattern of targeting education and girls.

Buni Yadi / Buni Yadi school massacre (25 Feb 2014)

What happened: gunmen attacked a boarding school and killed dozens of male students (commonly reported figure ~59). The attack demonstrated the targeting of schools and children.

Baga (3–7 Jan 2015) — mass razing and massacre

What happened: a huge assault that overran a military base and razed large parts of Baga and Doron Baga; Amnesty satellite imagery showed massive destruction; reported death tolls varied (dozens to possibly thousands by some claims). The attack triggered a major displacement crisis.

Damasak (late 2014 – early 2015) — occupation and executions

What happened: Boko Haram occupied Damasak (near Niger border), committing mass executions and forcing thousands to flee; HRW documented executions and atrocities associated with the occupation.

Koshebe / Zabarmari farmers massacre (Nov 2020)

What happened: gunmen killed at least 110 rice farmers on a farm near Maiduguri — one of the deadliest single massacres in recent years. The attack showed insurgents targeting livelihoods to terrorise rural populations.

What the international community and human-rights bodies say

Human-rights NGOs: Amnesty and HRW documented systematic attacks amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity and called for investigations and accountability. Amnesty’s 2015 report catalogued mass raids, executions, abductions and sexual slavery and urged prosecutions.
Data/incident trackers: ACLED reporting shows that attacks on Christian communities rose alongside overall increases in civilian-targeting violence in recent years (2021–2022). EUAA analysis using ACLED and Nigeria Watch confirms high fatality counts concentrated in Borno, Benue, Kaduna and other states.
Atrocity risk monitors: organisations such as Global R2P and other watchers have labelled Nigeria at elevated risk of atrocity crimes, citing intensified attacks by Boko Haram/ISWAP and worsening insecurity.

Assessment: do the facts on the ground support saying “Christian genocide”?

Evidence that Christians have been attacked and killed repeatedly is clear — numerous church attacks, raids on Christian towns/villages and civilian killings of Christians are documented. Amnesty and HRW provide case studies and catalogues of these atrocities.
Evidence that Boko Haram and ISWAP have committed crimes against humanity is strong and repeatedly documented.
Evidence that the violence satisfies the legal definition of “genocide” across the theatre (i.e., proof of an intent to destroy Christians as a group) is not conclusively established in public NGO reports. Many human-rights reports are careful to document atrocities and to call for accountability without universally labelling the campaign “genocide” at the legal level. Legal genocide findings typically require judicial processes or detailed legal adjudication showing specific intent. Scholarly pieces and some observers argue that parts of the campaign have genocidal characteristics in certain localities; others caution that the conflict is multi-causal and that victims include many Muslims as well.

Impacts and long-term consequences

Demographic and social rupture: mass displacement, ruined livelihoods, and destroyed education infrastructure have created a lost generation in many communities.
Polarisation and communal tensions: narratives of religious persecution have hardened local and international rhetoric, sometimes increasing polarized political responses.
Justice and accountability gaps: despite arrests and occasional prosecutions, many mass-atrocity incidents remain uninvestigated or unpunished; victims seek truth, reparations and safety. Amnesty and HRW have repeatedly called for independent investigations and prosecutions.

What would be required to make a legal finding of genocide

A credible legal finding of genocide (under international law) would need to demonstrate, through evidence, that perpetrators intended to destroy, in whole or in part, a protected group (e.g., Christians) as such. That requires:

Documented patterns of killings targeted specifically at a protected group, beyond incidental civilian targeting.
Evidence of policy, orders, or communications that reveal intent (e.g., internal statements, captured directives, consistent patterns showing intent).
Judicial or quasi-judicial adjudication (international tribunal, domestic court applying international crimes, or a truth commission with legal authority) to make the formal determination.
Public human-rights investigators have documented the first two elements in parts (systematic killings, targeting of schools/churches, forced conversions/enslavement), but generally stop short of a universal legal genocide declaration across all incidents without judicial determination. Amnesty and HRW call clearly for accountability on crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Conclusions — short, evidence-based

Boko Haram and ISWAP have carried out a documented campaign of mass atrocities—massacres, abductions, sexual slavery, village burnings, and attacks on churches and schools—amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity. Amnesty and HRW’s field reports and ACLED/EUAA data provide consistent evidence.
Christians have been repeatedly targeted and killed in many documented incidents, and churches and Christian communities have suffered horrific attacks. However, victims have also included many Muslims; the conflict’s drivers are mixed (terrorism, criminality, communal conflict), so the category “Christian genocide” is politically potent but legally contested. Care is needed to distinguish documented atrocity crimes from the stricter legal label genocide, which requires proof of intent.
Accountability and protection remain urgent priorities. Human-rights organisations call for robust independent investigations, prosecutions, and sustained humanitarian and development interventions to protect civilians and address root causes.