Boko Haram-Led Violence In Nigeria Has Killed More Than 11,000 People Since 1998: Report

At least 11,100 people have been killed in attacks by Boko Haram in Nigeria, according to a report released by an alumni group from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, or SAIS. Boko Haram, which opposes Western education in the country has been trying to establish an Islamic caliphate in northeastern Nigeria.

The Nigeria Social Violence Dataset, which is now publicly available, estimated that at least 29,600 people have been killed in more than 2,300 incidents since 1998, and Boko Haram is responsible for 40 percent of all deaths in the region in this period. Between July 2013 and June 2014, at least 7,000 people died because of the insurgency led by the group in the region, according to the report, which was released by Connect SAIS Africa, a forum for alumni, students, faculty and friends of the African Studies program at Johns Hopkins.

“From 2009-present, social violence, concentrated in the Northeast, has increased substantially and is increasingly dominated by the Boko Haram insurgency. In recent years, violence has reached levels unprecedented in Nigeria’s post-civil war history,” according to the report.

The deaths in Nigeria between July 2013 and June 2014 are more than double the deaths seen last year in Afghanistan, where 3,120 civilians and troops were killed. In 2011 in Iraq, more than 4,200 people were killed, SAIS members wrote in an article published in the Washington Post Monday.

“This is clearly the most lethal conflict that Nigeria has confronted in decades. It is being fought on a scale that is comparable to serious civil strife in other parts of the world,” they wrote.

Meanwhile, local reports said Tuesday that more than 100 Boko Haram insurgents were killed by the Nigerian military, which reportedly said it has taken control of the northeastern town of Michika.

“The Nigerian troops have gained entry into Michika and are now fully in control of the town, having dealt a severe blow to the insurgents, as they lost about 100 members; some escaped with injuries sustained from gun shots,” a source told Leadership, a local newspaper, adding: “There is heavy fighting between the insurgents and Nigerian troops as the insurgents are doing everything to frustrate the efforts of the Nigerian troops, and many people who are trapped in the towns are now sneaking out following intensified fighting.”