Exit from Violent Extremism: The Rationality of Terrorist Disengagement Among Ex-Boko Haram Combatants in Nigeria

Existing scholarly research on the Boko Haram terrorist organisation focuses on its sociohistorical origins, violent ideology, organisational dynamics, splinter groups, and the subjective reasons why individuals join the terrorist organisation to perpetrate terrorist violence against local communities in northeast Nigeria and the wider Lake Chad region encompassing Niger, Cameroon, and Chad. Despite the fact that many people leave Boko Haram, minimal scholarly attention has been given to individual disengagement from the terrorist group. In this research article, we fill this gap in the scholarly literature by examining the myriad reasons individuals disengage from the terrorist group and cease to participate in terrorist activities. Drawing on the literature on terrorist disengagement in terrorism studies as well as on forty (40) phenomenological interviews with survivors and ex-combatants in northeast Nigeria―Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states―we explore and discuss the myriad reasons why individuals disengage from the terrorist organisation and its violent activities. The phenomenological interviews underscore seven reasons for individuals’ decision to disengage from Boko Haram: hardship; disillusionment; racism; forced marriages; relationships; burnout; and external pressures and incentives. Our research has implications for counterterrorism strategies directed against the violent terrorist organisation in the Lake Chad region and beyond.