Conference: Vincent Foucher – summary

On the 30th of March, Vincent Foucher (Senior Research Fellow at the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), researcher at the Sciences Po Bordeaux affiliated with the laboratory Les Afriques dans le monde and senior analyst for the non-governmental organisation International Crisis Group) gave a conference during which he presented his current research on the Bakura Faction and the governance of jihad in the lake Chad basin. During the event, Vincent Foucher presented the Islamic State franchise centred in north-eastern Nigeria, which is now one of the most active jihadist movements in the world.

The Islamic State West Africa Province’s (ISWAP) success is partly linked to the influence and support of the Islamic State (IS), which has encouraged the movement to adopt a more streamlined, bureaucratic governance that limits the amount of violence committed against Muslim civilians. This streamlining, although it has been ISWAP’s strength, is not self-evident: It has caused great tension within the Nigerian jihadist movement. Established in the northern part of Lake Chad, Ibrahim Bakura Doro’s group resists this rationalisation and adheres to the historical functioning of jihadism in north-eastern Nigeria, at the crossroads between sectarianism, predation and clientelism.

Tags: Violence