Bodo is a village in the Far North Region of

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

, adjacent to the

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

with

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

History

Bodo is one of the settlements in Far North that is badly affected by

jihadist Jihadism is a neologism which is used in reference to "militant Islamic movements that are perceived as existentially threatening to the West" and "rooted in political Islam."Compare: Appearing earlier in the Pakistani and Indian media, Wes ...

group

Boko Haram Boko Haram, officially known as ''Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihād'' ( ar, جماعة أهل السنة للدعوة والجهاد, lit=Group of the People of Sunnah for Dawah and Jihad), is an Islamic terrorist organization ...

insurgency An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against authority waged by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare from primarily rural base areas. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irregu ...

which originated in neighboring

in 2009. They started attacking Cameroon (along with

Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...

and Niger) in the mid-2010s. Bodo is just across the border which is only marked by a small river.

Suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

bombers and raiders have repeatedly attacked the village, resulting in locals setting up a self-defense group. The most deadly attack in the village took place on 25 January 2016, when Bodo was struck by four female Boko Haram suicide bombers. They had disguised themselves as traders, and managed to circumvent the local self-defense fighters by using the dusty

Harmattan The Harmattan is a season in West Africa that occurs between the end of November and the middle of March. It is characterized by the dry and dusty northeasterly trade wind, of the same name, which blows from the Sahara over West Africa into the ...

winds to their advantage. The bombers then detonated themselves on the village's market, killing 35 people and wounding 70. The government responded by launching an attack on a suspected insurgent base at nearby Achigashia, and by closing all border markets to prevent further similar attacks. After Boko Haram fighters overran the town of Rann in

Borno State Borno State is a state in the North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered by Yobe to the west, Gombe to the southwest, and Adamawa to the south while its eastern border forms part of the national border with Cameroon, its northern border ...

, northeastern Nigeria on 14 January 2019, about 8,000 of its inhabitants fled across the border to Bodo. Humanitarian groups set up a

refugee camp A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for internally displaced peo ...

to accommodate the arrivals. Regardless, Cameroonian authorities forced all but 1,500 refugees to go back to Nigeria after a few days.

References

{{Reflist Populated places in Far North Region (Cameroon)

History

See also

References