Introduction

Recently, US President Donald Trump designated Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern”,1 due to alleged claims of terrorist groups’ genocidal attacks against Christians in Northern Nigeria. Beyond the religious undertone, such a claim reveals a more fundamental and long-standing challenge with the Nigerian State’s perceived mismanagement of counterterrorism, and how this continues to create space for the unfettered expansion of terrorism in the country.  In this piece, I demonstrate how this is further sustained through a relatively uncommon way: the interplay of a terrorist group’s perpetration of conflict-related sexual violence against men and boys. However, social norms in the country contribute to silencing their experiences, creating trauma-driven pathways which terror groups exploit to groom boys for violent extremism and terrorism. This dynamic is central to the vicious circle of terrorist violence in Nigeria.

In my research titled “Queering Terrorism”,2 published in the journal Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, I examined the sexual practices of terrorist groups such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP) and their implications for counter-terrorism policies. I presented two interrelated arguments. First, the seemingly patriarchal and heteronormative portrayal of the Lake Chad Basin (LCB) creates difficulty in imagining and rationalizing the sexual victimization of men and boys, particularly those perpetrated by terrorist organizations. This depiction fosters skepticism on the possibility of sexual grooming and development of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) among men and boys victimized by terrorist groups, as well as potential of trauma bonding. For instance, some of the victims’ interviews during the study expressed a desire to return to the camps after being rescued by Nigerian security agencies. This behaviour stems from the grooming technique of the terrorist group, who give them preferential treatment and makes them feel important. According to victims, this preferential treatment received is unlike the harsh treatment or unconducive environment they faced in the internally displaced persons camps.

My second argument builds on the first, where I argue that the PTSD and trauma bonding of male victims pose security challenges to counter-terrorism policy and enforcement. Trauma bonding experienced by male victims creates increased vulnerability as they become exposed to trauma-informed criminal activities, which include their desire to rejoin terrorist groups because they feel they are given better treatment in terrorist camps. Hence, victims could act as spies for terrorist groups to ingratiate themselves or regain their trust in these groups. Therefore, counter-terrorism policy, particularly soft measures and humanitarian aid that continually ignore the sexual victimization of men and boys is counter-productive.

Terrorism and Conflict-related Sexual Violence against Men and Boys in Lake Chad Basin

For over a decade, the Lake Chad Basin region has become a major terrorist enclave with Boko Haram and ISWAP causing violence that has led to the destruction of lives and properties and displaced millions across the region.3 The practice/phenomenon of sexual violence has emerged as one of the most pronounced tactics of terrorist groups in the LCB. The sexual violence in this region has also been described as a “rape epidemic,”4 considering the increasing reports of sexual violence against women and girls who are raped, sex trafficked, and sold as sex slaves. Some of these women and girls have often relied on sex to survive their harsh socio-economic conditions.5 However, while women and girls remain disproportionately affected by Conflict-Related Sexual Violence (CRSV), men and boys are also victims, albeit seldom reported. This article explores the roots of CRSV in men and boys and its consequences, including the reason why male victimization in Lake Chad has yet to gain media attention despite evidence of its prevalence.

First, I argue that the roots of CRSV by Boko Haram and ISWAP can be traced to the existence of a same-sex subculture in Northern Nigeria and the Lake Chad region.6 Despite the typical understanding of the region as culturally patriarchal and heteronormative, these perceptions are a reflection of Islamic revivalism and do not capture the co-existence of “normative and non-normative” 7sexual encounters. These include effeminate men known as Yan Dauda, Yan Kefi or lesbians and the Masu Harka, which are masculine-presenting men who have sex with men.8 However, survival of the same-sex sub-culture is traced to the decreet lives of the gay community, in which coded language is often used in communication. In addition, within the Lake Chad region, being decreet about “non-normative” sexuality or homosexuality is usually considered good behaviour. It is within this historical context of sexual fluidity and the existence of same-sex subcultures that Boko Haram and ISWAP exist.

Interviews with male victims of sexual violence reveal how Boko Haram kidnapped them from their various villages to the camps, where they spent between four months and three years in captivity before being rescued.9 There are allegations that some relatives and religious community preachers also lure some of the boys into terrorism by convincing their parents that they were being taken to Islamic and Qur’anic schools. Within these periods of living in Boko Haram camps, victims recounted being trained on how to use weapons, while some victims also recounted being kept in a special house where their role was to serve the Boko Haram members sexually. There is a “collective awareness, approval and participation” of the sexual violence act, with one of the survivors saying that after rejecting the advances from a group member and reporting him to the leader, both the leader and the terrorist member he reported raped him the following night.10 Furthermore, male victims of sexual violence are given preferential treatment in camps, with victims stating that while they hated being raped, they were treated like kings with access to chicken, cow meat, and fresh milk in the camps.11 This was in sharp contrast to the poor treatment at IDP camps after being rescued. Therefore, victims compared their lives in the terrorist camps and harsh conditions in the IDP camps, with some longing to go back to the terrorist camps if the opportunity should present itself.12

Implications

While young men and boys continue to suffer from all forms of physical, social and psychological trauma, the often-projected heteronormative social norms of terrorist groups and their collective homophobia coloured a nuanced understanding of the sexual lives of terrorist groups and the gendered and sexual harms caused. As a result of these norms, victims are silenced for fear of social stigma and re-victimisation—as they become targets for sexual predators who interpret their experiences as an indication of their homosexuality or, to borrow the words of a victim who stated that a perpetrator “had heard of my incident from a friend and wanted to try his luck.”13 Victims also fear legal prosecution as the Nigerian 2014 Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act criminalises romantic or sexual relations between persons of the same gender.14 Heteronormative social norms contribute to creating policy gaps and legal lacunas for male victims, as can be seen in the lack of clarity in Nigerian criminal laws on male and female victims of same-sex violence, despite the provisions in the Child Rights Act of 200315and the 2015 Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act.16 Moreover, the 2017 National Action Plan Countering Violent Extremism (NAPCVE)17 and Nigerian National Action Plan for the implementation of UNSCR 1325 on women, peace and security (WPS),18 did not mention or capture the experience of male victims, thereby leading to the lack of humanitarian programmes or advocacy for male victims of CRSV.

Furthermore, the neglect of the experiences and lack of support for male victims creates security problems and undermines the government’s countering violent extremism or deradicalisation programmes.

Way Forward

The United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCRs) 2106,  of 2013,19 recognises that men and boys can be victims of sexual violence in conflict and the need for measures to address them. However, the legal instruments of the UNSCR’s resolution are yet to be fully domesticated in Nigerian national laws due to the socio-norms heteronormative and the institutional silencing of male sexual violence victims. While countries in the LCB have humanitarian and peacebuilding programmes that recognise the CRSV of women and girls, such as the WPS National Action Plans,20 and NAPCVE,21 CRSV against men and boys is not captured in these policies. In addition, counter-terrorism policy that responds to the potential of CRSV victims, who, due to trauma bonding, could engage in criminal activities in support of the terrorist groups and rejoin them as a combatant, is yet to be accounted for.  The result is a vicious circle of violence in the LCB, which is enabled by the existence of boys who have been groomed for terrorism via sexual violence.

Endnotes

  1. CSW, “US President Designates Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern,” November 3, 2025. https://www.csw.org.uk/2025/11/03/press/6656/article.htm
  2. Njoku, Emeka Thaddues. 2024. “Queering Terrorism.” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 47 (8): 888–910. doi:10.1080/1057610X.2021.2016514.
  3. Comolli, Virginia. “The Evolution and Impact of Boko Haram in the Lake Chad Basin.” Humanitarian Practice Network70 (October 2017). https://odihpn.org/en/publication/the-evolution-and-impact-of-boko-haram-in-the-lake-chad-basin/
  4. Amnesty International, ‘Nigeria: Starving Women Raped by Soldiers and Militia Who Claim to Be Rescuing Them.’ (2018). https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/05/nigeria-starving-women-raped-by-soldiers-and-militia-who-claim-to-be-rescuing-them/
  5. Njoku, Emeka Thaddues, and Joshua Akintayo. 2021. “Sex for Survival: Terrorism, Poverty and Sexual Violence in Ndoi:10.1080n Nigeria.” South African Journal of International Affairs 28 (2): 285–303. doi:10.1080/10220461.2021.1927166
  6. Steven Pierce, “Identity, Performance, and Secrecy: Gendered Life and the “Modem” in Northern Nigeria” Feminist Studies, 33, no. 3, (2007): 539–565.
  7. Pierce,  “Identity, Performance, and Secrecy”;
  8. Rudolf Pell Gaudio, Allah Made Us: Sexual Outlaws in an Islamic African City, Western Sussex, (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2016); Pierce,  “Identity, Performance, and Secrecy”;
  9. Njoku,. 2024. “Queering Terrorism.”
  10. [x] Njoku, Emeka Thaddues. 2024. “Queering Terrorism.”
  11. Njoku, Emeka Thaddues. 2024. “Queering Terrorism.”
  12. Njoku, Emeka Thaddues. 2024. “Queering Terrorism.”
  13. Njoku, Emeka Thaddues, and Isaac Dery. “Gendering Counter-Terrorism: Kunya and the Silencing of Male Victims of CRSV in Northeastern Nigeria.” African Studies Review 66, no. 4 (2023): 949–66. https://doi.org/10.1017/asr.2023.27.
  14. Njoku, and Dery. “Gendering Counter-Terrorism”
  15. Nigeria: Act No. 26 of 2003, Child’s Rights Act, 2003, 31 July 2003, https://www.refworld.org/legal/legislation/natlegbod/2003/en/105082 [accessed 16 December 2025]
  16. The Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, 2015 – The LawPavilion Blog”. lawpavilion.com. 2016-04-05. Retrieved 2022-03-30. [accessed 16 December 2025]
  17. Nigeria National Action Plan for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (NAPCVE). 2017. Office of the National Security Adviser. https://nctc.gov.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/PFNAP-FOR-PCVE-2017.pdf
  18. National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security in Nigeria 2017-2020. https://www.wpsnaps.org/app/uploads/2019/09/Nigeria-NAP-2-2017-2020.pdf
  19. United Nations Security Council Resolution 2106. https://www.un.org/shestandsforpeace/sites/www.un.org.shestandsforpeace/files/unscr_2106_2013_on_wps_english.pdf
  20. National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security in Nigeria
  21. Nigeria National Action Plan for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism