How ISWAP turned on Boko Haram, triggering Nigeria’s deadliest terror rivalry

The long-running rivalry between the Islamic State West Africa Province, ISWAP, and Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad, JAS, popularly known as Boko Haram, has continued to reshape the insurgency in Nigeria’s North-East, with repeated clashes over territory, leadership and resources.

The background was highlighted in a report by security analyst Zagazola Makama while explaining the latest confrontation between both factions in Borno State.

According to the report, the conflict dates back to 2016 when ISWAP broke away from the Abubakar Shekau-led Boko Haram movement following disagreements over ideology and leadership.

Since the split, both groups have engaged in repeated battles over territorial control, taxation routes, recruitment of fighters and strategic hideouts across the Lake Chad Basin and the Sambisa Forest.

Makama reported that the rivalry intensified in May 2021 when ISWAP launched a major offensive into the Sambisa Forest, cornering Shekau during a confrontation.

According to the report, Shekau reportedly died after detonating an explosive device rather than surrendering to ISWAP fighters.

“The latest confrontation is the latest in a series of violent clashes between ISWAP and JAS, whose long-running rivalry has continued to reshape the insurgency landscape in the North-East,” the report stated.

Following his death, ISWAP absorbed many of Shekau’s followers, but several loyal JAS commanders rejected allegiance to the group and continued operating independently from isolated enclaves around the Sambisa Forest and Mandara Mountains.

Makama further reported that intelligence gathered in recent months indicated renewed tensions between the two factions over control of food supplies, taxation of local communities, movement corridors and the allegiance of surviving fighters.

According to the report, the struggle for dominance has triggered a series of violent internal battles, with both groups suffering casualties while competing for shrinking territories under sustained military pressure.

According to Makama, the renewed clashes suggest that sustained military offensives are forcing both factions into fierce competition over shrinking territories, supplies and recruits as troops intensify operations across the North-East.