Akali Omeni (PhD, Kings College London) is Lecturer at the Handa Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence, University of St Andrews, UK. He was previous a Lecturer in African Politics at the University of Leicester, UK. He has previously worked with the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) and was co-chair of the Africa Research Group at King's College London (affiliated to their world-leading War Studies department). In 2019, Omeni won the prestigious “Rising Star” excellence award at King’s College London. His other previously published books include Policing and Politics in Nigeria.

• PrefaceAcknowledgementsIntroduction Part I: The Insurgent Chapter 1. Boko Haram’s Formative Years, Ideology and Transitioning to ViolenceChapter 2. The 2009 Troubles in North-East Nigeria and Abu Shekau’s EmergenceChapter 3. 2016 – 2019: Boko Haram, Abu Mus’ab Al-Barnawi and Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP)Part II: The EnvironmentChapter 4. The Terrestrial Environment as a Force-MultiplierChapter 5. The North-East Nigeria Border Environment: Cameroon, Chad and NigerChapter 6. The Non-Physical Environment to Boko Haram’s InsurgencyPart III: The Campaign Chapter 7. A Resilient Threat: Boko Haram’s Military and Organisational SophisticationChapter 8. Suicide Bombing and Guerrilla Warfare: Boko Haram’s Covert FrontPart IV: The Counter-Insurgency Challenge (Theory and Practice)Chapter 9. War and the COIN Challenge (Theory) Annexe to Chapter nine: 2019 Update Conclusion: So, Why Has the Nigerian Army Struggled Against Boko Haram?NotesIndex

Omeni’s highly original study focuses ... on [explaining] the group’s success over the last few decades as a fighting force. ...The book also includes a useful discussion of the group’s relationship with the Islamic State.