The prevailing attempts at “combating” terrorism either nationally or indeed globally often ignores the social, political and economic injustices foist on humanity by capitalism and its neo-liberal orthodoxy. Understood as a systematic use of violence to communicate an ideological or political message, terrorism is today being used as a weapon by the weak, exploited, oppressed and dispossessed. This paper in a historical and analytical manner examines the origin and ‘terrorist’ activities of the Boko Haram group and observes that although the group was a radical Islamic organization whose objective was religious proselytization, it was its getting enmeshed in politics, the consequent use of unbridled and disproportionate force and the extra-judicial killing of its leader by the Nigerian state that led to its terroristic inclinations. The paper argues that contrary to the propaganda against Islam, it has within its doctrine; social, political and economic prescriptions such as an all-inclusive leadership and governance structure, mass literacy, the interest free banking, compulsory payment of Zakat (Poor Due) for a just and equitable wealth redistribution, that can birth a new social order, which would then eradicate the conditions that breeds and fuels terrorism. The paper concludes that winning the war on terror using the prevailing strategy of military campaigns, intelligence gathering and selective killing of acclaimed terrorists while ignoring the harsh and excruciating human conditions which manifest in socio-political deprivation, political exclusion, mass poverty and social inequality may remain a mirage.