Who is Boko Haram, which yesterday killed more than 2,000 people in Nigeria

Following the terrorist attack in Paris, the world public is simultaneously reporting on the largest massacre to date committed by Boko Haram, a Nigerian Islamist group founded in 2002 by Muhammad Yusuf, reports the BH News Agency Patria.

A few days ago in Baga, Boko Haram members set fire to 16 towns and villages, and 2,000 people lost their lives. On Saturday, 19 people were killed when a 10-year-old girl strapped with a bomb detonated herself in a market. Boko Haram has not claimed responsibility for this massacre, but there are suspicions that they are responsible. These attacks are happening just a few weeks before the elections in Nigeria.

WHO IS BOKO HARAM

Since 2009, Boko Haram has operated as an armed jihadist group. Their vision is that the West spreads immorality, bringing corruption and crime to Nigeria.

Members of the group demand that Muslim Sharia law and Islamic schools be introduced throughout Nigeria, with the goal of overthrowing the secular state government.

Throughout their existence, they have carried out attacks on police and government officials, churches, schools, and Christian neighborhoods, as well as on Muslim leaders who have criticized the group or who assist the government's work. They have killed a large number of students and abducted female students with the aim of selling them into slavery.

The State Department treats Boko Haram as a terrorist organization.

CALL FOR PEACE

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, following the massacre in Baga, called on Boko Haram leaders to accept peace, especially now that the general elections in Nigeria are approaching next month.

The statement also noted that the terrorist group is expanding towards Cameroon, Chad, and Niger.

Moon also stated that he will discuss with member states what can be done if Boko Haram does not stop the killings, abductions, and attacks.

Here is how world media graphically depicts the territory of Nigeria under Boko Haram's control