logo
episode-header-image
Jan 2022
50m 4s

The rise of Boko Haram

Bbc World Service
About this episode

In 2009, Boko Haram, a small Islamist group, launched an insurgency in the north eastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri. The conflict would eventually force hundreds of thousands from their homes, and leave tens of thousands dead. We hear a witness account of how the violence started. Plus, this past week Americans have been observing the Martin Luther King Jr. Day national holiday. The long campaign to have Dr King formally recognized in the US was led by his widow, Coretta Scott King. We hear from her daughter, Dr Bernice King, about the campaign. We dip into the BBC archive to bring you the story of the notorious Stanford Prison Experiment. Also, from the 1980s, a time when many wanted to get out of East Germany and into the West, the young woman who decided to go the other way and set up a new life in the East. And the Dutchman behind the first bike sharing scheme.

Photo: A suspected Boko Haram house in Maiduguri set ablaze by Nigerian security forces, 30th July 2009 (AFP/Getty Images)

Up next
Aug 1
The first Comic Con and making Oasis’ Wonderwall
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. We hear how a comic book fan and his friends began the very first comic convention in New York in 1964. Our guest is comic book expert Dr Barbara Postema, from the University Gr ... Show More
59m 36s
Jul 25
Solar-powered flight and the Crazy Horse Memorial
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes.This week, we hear about the first solar-powered flight around the world, and discuss other moments in the history of solar power with Prof Laura Herz, Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford, in th ... Show More
1 h
Jul 18
The Spanish Civil War and the Birkin bag
Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service.This week, we mark 90 years since the start of the Spanish Civil War. Our guest is historian Professor Sir Paul Preston, who explains how the conflict transformed Spain and pave ... Show More
1 h
Recommended Episodes
Jan 2022
The rise of Boko Haram
How a small Nigerian Islamist group launched one of the deadliest insurgencies in Africa. In 2002, a new radical sect emerged in Maiduguri in north eastern Nigeria led by a charismatic preacher, Mohammed Yusuf. He preached against anything he deemed un-Islamic or having a western ... Show More
14m 47s
Jun 2024
Boko Haram massacre in Gwoza
In 2014, Boko Haram militants drove into Gwoza in north-east Nigeria and began an assault that would leave hundreds of people dead.Ruoyah, who was just 14, hid in her house for eight hours under continuous fire. She says when she finally opened the door to leave her house she say ... Show More
9m 54s
Oct 2023
What’s life like when you live under the constant fear of Boko Haram attacks?
Over the past 14 years Boko Haram has wreaked havoc in Nigeria and neighbouring countries. The group gained international notoriety with the kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls in Nigeria in 2014 which sparked the ‘Bring Back Our Girls campaign’. Their attacks also spread to ... Show More
18m 37s
Mar 2022
Who Are Boko Haram?
Boko Haram is one of the largest Islamist militant groups in Africa, with Nigeria’s ongoing battle with insurgent groups and government corruption threatening the stability and political integrity of Africa’s most populous state. But who exactly are Boko Haram? In this episode of ... Show More
48m 18s
Jun 2025
What's the impact of rising violence caused by Boko Haram and ISIL in Nigeria?
Renewed violence by armed groups Boko Haram and ISIL has forced thousands of people to leave their homes in Nigeria. Despite repeated government pledges, the military has been unable to end the violence. So why is it continuing and what threats does it pose? In this episode: Kabi ... Show More
25m 16s
Jan 2022
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
This week Americans have been observing the Martin Luther King Jr Day national holiday, which marks the birthday of the late civil rights leader. The campaign to have Dr King formally recognized in the US was led by his widow, Coretta Scott King. The holiday was finally signed in ... Show More
14m 10s
Nov 2019
The Siege of Mecca
On November 20th, 1979, a group of Islamic militants seized Islam's holiest site — the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. They took thousands of hostages and held the holy site for two weeks, shocking the Islamic world. This week, how one man led an uprising that would have ... Show More
42m 52s
Mar 2024
Kidnapped in Nigeria: A personal testimony
Yet another kidnapping in Nigeria's Kaduna State, where gunmen abducted around 100 people including women and children, that's according to local authorities. We hear a very brave and harrowing interview from a young woman who was taken by Boko Haram back in 2013, but had a lucky ... Show More
32m 14s
Jan 2023
Why are IS attacks against Christians on the rise in Africa?
Dozens of people were killed in a bomb blast at a church in the Democratic Republic of Congo last weekend. In Nigeria, a priest was killed and another was abducted in the last few days. By mid-January, women and children were kidnapped in Burkina Faso. These are just a few of rec ... Show More
13m 25s