Re-investigating African terrorism through boko haram’s engagement strategies: Evidential and additive markers as practice of martyrdom

As insecurity keeps deteriorating socioeconomic activities globally, attempts have as well been offered in proffering solution to it. Reference to Nigeria, area of interest in this study, many terrorist groups have surface in the recent years with Boko Haram (BH hence) placed as the most deadly by various indices including Global terrorism index. It is further evident that BH has in record forced millions of people into internal relocation within their own country in Africa. Others have left their settled homes for their respective actual countries, asides others who have taken refuge in neighbouring countries (UNDP, 2021). The activities which attracts scholars' attention across disciplines have largely been interrogated by linguists as well. Perspectives as literary critique, discourse and media representation of BH have significantly been explored. The present study recognises terrorists' engagement strategies being a means through which they radicalise members to sustain the group activities. Specifically, the study aims at unveiling how such metadiscourse elements as evidential and additive markers are manipulated in achieving martyrdom strategy by BH as manifest in their discourses. The data comprise sermons, YouTube releases, public lectures and Quranic tafsir of the BH. Descriptive inference is adopted with Hyland's (2005) Interpersonal model of metadiscourse and May's (2001) pragmatic act for the analysis. The study posits that understanding BH engagement strategies is a path towards ending the movement and timely action against their re-emergence or similar group.