Loimeier: 'Boko Haram terror will continue'

DW: Professor Loimeier, reports about Boko Haram attacks in Cameroon have become more frequent recently. Is the militant group's terror spilling over from Nigeria?

Roman Loimeier: Yes, it has been spilling over for quite some time, actually. There are, of course, Cameroonian Muslims who have joined Boko Haram in recent years, even though this is only a small minority within the group. The second factor is that Boko Haram has seen northern Cameroon in particular, and also Niger, as a space to retreat to under pressure from the Nigerian army.

Last week, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau threatened Cameroon in a video message, saying that the same fate would befall Cameroon as Nigeria.

Abubakar Shekau has a legacy of threatening everybody. Of course, Boko Haram has also tried to expand operations into Cameroon and trigger a similar process there to the one in Nigeria. But so far, I cannot see that they have been successful in doing so, which may be due to the fact that the Cameroonian army is much better equipped and trained than the Nigerian army and also much less corrupt. Also, Muslims in northern Cameroon are much better integrated into established networks of scholarship and religious movements. They have managed to keep northern Cameroonian Muslims from becoming more radical.

So you do not see the danger of Boko Haram building a regional empire in Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad in the way "Islamic State" is doing in Syria and Iraq?

No, I do not see that. On both sides of the border there is also a considerable number of people who are not Muslim or Christian but adherents of African religions, local religions. And these people are very prominent in the resistance to Boko Haram.

But in spite of these local groups and the Cameroonian army fighting Boko Haram, the terror sect has been attacking again and again. Cameroon's president Paul Biya last week asked the international community for military aid in the fight against the group. Is Cameroon too weak to repel the attacks?

In terms of numbers, the Cameroonian army is, of course, much smaller than the Nigerian army. This is why Paul Biya is asking for help. But in my experience, African heads of state, especially in the Sahel region, have asked for external help in the context of many different situations. Paul Biya might use the fact that Boko Haram is threatening Cameroon to get attention in the West and to obtain more modern equipment. He wants to be acknowledged as a partner in the fight against terror.

But is there no international effort as yet under way to quell Boko Haram?

That is a problematic issue. Outside powers have realized that the Nigerian army has a history of selling its own equipment to Boko Haram. It is a joke, it is cynical. And Americans are particularly annoyed at the fact that their military aid is likely to be sold to Boko Haram. So this has led to a certain disenchantment with Nigeria. But at the same time, of course, the Americans, France and Israel have their secret services in the region, keeping a very close eye on the developments there.

For the northeastern region of Nigeria, it has been another bloody weekend, with at least 23 people dying in suicide attacks. Do you think the conflict will escalate further?

When looking at the historical development of Boko Haram terror, we can differentiate three stages: From 2003 to 2009, in the beginning of their jihad against the northern Nigerian authorities, attacks were directed mostly against police stations, road blocks, army installations, government institutions and prisons. After 2009, Boko Haram tried to conquer territory; its operations had a very military character. This was a kind of war. In this period, they also terrorized ethnic and religious minorities in the conquered territories. We have now entered a third stage of Boko Haram terror. They have come under pressure and from 2013 on they have been acting against the civilian Muslim population. They do so in order to frighten them into not collaborating with the authorities. And this terror against civilians will continue.

Professor Roman Loimeier teaches ethnology at Göttingen University in Germany. He is an expert on Muslim societies in Africa.