Evanescence of borders and extension of terrorism in Cameroon: the case of Boko Haram

This article draws on ethnographic research conducted in the Far North of Cameroon between 2013 and 2025 to analyse how border dynamics have influenced the expansion of “Boko Haram’s” operational area within Cameroonian territory. It shows that, in addition to traditional explanatory factors of the movement, the sociological, economic, geographical, geopolitical, and historical characteristics of border areas along Lake Chad and the Mandara Mountains have favoured the expansion of Boko Haram’s operational area in Cameroon. This expansion has been all the easier because of the opportunization of cross-border ethnic solidarity, the porosity, fragility, and even brittleness of borders, a weak state presence, and difficulties in security cooperation with Nigeria and Chad. The results of this research argue for decentralising the study of the movement and adopting a local turn that foregrounds localised perspectives and accounts for the fact that “Boko Haram” is several things at once and manifests itself differently across terrains. More importantly, it shows that in small doses, the border can be a remedy against terrorism. In high doses, it is a deadly poison.