In January 2015, Boko Haram ravaged Baga Kawa, a village on the southern bank of Lake Chad. After the April 2015 election of President Muhammadu Buhari, the Nigerian government emerged from its apathy and, despite a still faulty military apparatus, sought to recover territory from Boko Haram. Nigeria asked neighboring Cameroon, Chad, and Niger to contain Boko Haram’s excesses on their respective borders. However, only Chad was authorized to give chase. A land crisis hit the shores of Lake Chad, formerly an unparalleled center of economic development. In addition, indigenous groups demanded control of the area, a situation Boko Haram would exploit as it tried to rally the population of the former Bornu Empire under its aegis. Boko Haram’s irruption in this swampy land, a place so unruly that no past or present form of government has ever succeeded in controlling it, represents a real threat to the region. What will happen if Boko Haram turns the lake’s shores into a refuge?