Boko Haram is known for spreading its campaign of terror from strongholds in northeastern Nigeria's Sambisa forest. But the forest only became its fortress after the Nigerian military chased the militant group, which is considered a terrorist organization by the EU, the UN and others, out of populated areas like state capital Maiduguri. 

Once home to a game reserve renowned for its wildlife, Sambisa became Boko Haram's operational heart for several years. The forest covers about 60,000 square kilometers (more than 23,100 square miles), and stretches across multiple northeastern states, including Borno, Yobe, Gombe and Bauchi. It is also relatively close to the borders of Chad and Cameroon. From here, Boko Haram terrorized communities and launched attacks.

The playbook was copied across the country. In northwestern and central Nigeria, forest reserves like the Kainji, Kwiambana, Kamuku and Alawa National Parks have also morphed into strategic havens for terror and bandit groups.

From protected land to ungoverned space

Nigeria's forest reserves were never designed with terrorism in mind. While laws exist to protect forests from resource extraction, the government has limited capacity to patrol and restrict illicit activities, according to analyst Ladd Serwat.

"Police and military don't tend to patrol within the forests and instead rely on roadblocks outside of these protected spaces to intercept things like logging trucks and engage in extortion," says Serwat of the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED) organization.

For Malik Samuel, a senior researcher at the pan-African think tank Good Governance Africa, weak forest governance, corruption and chronic under-funding have left forests largely unmapped, un-monitored and unprotected.

He says armed groups exploit this because "the forest gives them shelter and options for livelihood, whether to hunt wild animals or to cultivate the ground for food."

Analysts say bureaucratic neglect and overlapping responsibilities between the federal and state governments have created vast ungoverned spaces, making it easy for armed groups to move in without detection or resistance.

Undetected and under cover 

Difficult terrain, isolation, vastness and limited road access make forest reserves ideal for terror groups. Many forests connect multiple states or border neighboring countries. They are often used for illicit activities and are natural cover against military pressure. 

"There are parts of these forests where, during the day, you can't even see properly. Sometimes, you need a torchlight during the day," says Samuel, who has conducted multiple studies on armed groups operating in northern Nigeria.

"Even when security forces carry out air surveillance, it is difficult over densely forested areas. Forests serve as bases and camps for these groups to terrorize communities and then retreat back" to where they came from, he adds.

Serwat says terrorists use forests to conduct illicit tradesthat fund their activities. They gain favor among local communities near forests by allowing economic activities that would otherwise be limited "or subjected to high extortion fees by the state."

In the northeast, wildlife trafficking, especially of elephants and warthogs, and illicit gold has long been a source of funding for Boko Haram. In northwestern Nigeria, illegal gold mining and smuggling in some of these forests drives terrorism and banditry, and costs Nigeria roughly $9 billion (€7.6 billion) annually, local media reported in 2025.

Locals pay the price

Reserves and forests have become a source of fear for many neighboring communities. Farmers have been displaced as terror groups prowl and unleash violence in the areas, imposing taxes, kidnapping for ransom and forcing locals to work for them.

"These have become no-go areas for farmers. Nigeria is largely an agrarian society, and most people are subsistence farmers. If they are not able to access their farmland because of insecurity, then food insecurity follows," Samuel says.

He adds that high levels of malnutrition ravaging northern Nigeria is not "because of a sudden absence of food, but because of the systematic denial of farmers' access to their land by these violent actors."

As armed groups and their collaborators engage in illegal logging, mining and wildlife trafficking, conservation efforts have collapsed in many of these reserves.

"They present themselves as an alternative government because they know clearly that the state is not present in these areas," Samuel told DW.

"They present themselves as the best alternative by sometimes engaging in charitable activities such as economic empowerment and conflict resolution," he adds.

A glimmer of hope?

In late December 2025, the Nigerian government graduated more than7,000 forest guards following a three-month intensive training program. The guards are expected to keep terror groups, bandits and other criminal syndicates away from forested and inaccessible terrain.

But beyond that, analyst Ladd Serwat says lasting solutions must include non-kinetic approaches, including strengthening forest governance and improving intelligence gathering in local communities.

"More heavy-handed militarized enforcement is costly, and often is counterproductive when it comes to developing strong relations with local populations," Serwat told DW, adding that the livelihoods of local populations need to be taken into account, and "not treated as a secondary question."

Edited by Cai Nebe