The federal government issued a release on Thursday which can be considered as a major switch in communication. The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said at a press conference that Boko Haram and ISWAP have changed tactics and decided to target Christian communities. 

As part of their latest strategy the statement also said that these attacks are also meant to trigger religious war and create chaos. 

“Recall that Boko Haram insurgents didn’t use to discriminate between Christians and Muslims when they carried out their attacks in the past. Churches and mosques, Christians and Muslims were attacked without discrimination.” He continued that, “When they targeted motor parks, the religion, gender, ethnicity or political leaning of the victims didn’t matter, as long as they inflicted the maximum damage to lives and property” Mohammed said.

The minister also said that Boko Haram renewed its approach against Christians: “But in the wake of a renewed onslaught by our tireless military against Boko Haram and their ISWAP allies in recent times,

the insurgents have apparently changed their strategy. They have started targeting Christians and Christian villages for a specific reason, which is to trigger a religious war and throw the nation into chaos.” 

The major U-turn has another interesting aspect from a communicational point of view. Just at the beginning of February, President Muhhamadu Buhari has published an article on Christianity Today, in which he stated that Boko Haram is not targeting primarily Christians. 

He said that Christianity in Nigeria is not—as some seem intent on believing—contracting under pressure, but expanding and numbers about 45 percent of our population today. Nor is it the case that Boko Haram is primarily targeting Christians: not all of the Chibok schoolgirls were Christian (…). 

It is clear that Boko Haram’s and its affiliates’ destruction has a religious aspect and they have altered their tactical guide to focus on Christians as the Minister of Information and Culture’s press statement says. He also appealed to religious leaders asking not to fall under the divisive methods of Boko Haram and claimed that the terrorist organization is getting weaker thanks to the efforts made by the Nigerian armed forces. 

This has long been part of the official governmental communication, however, the number of attacks hasn’t decreased significantly. 

Hopefully this is not just a communicational discord within the government structure and will result in the weakening of Boko Haram and ISWAP. 

Cover photo: Muhammadu Buhari is shaking hands with members of the military (Twitter).