Since early 2015, the Nigerian military has recaptured vast swathes of territory that had come under the control of Boko Haram in the north-east of the country. However, instead of “freeing” hundreds of thousands of people who had been trapped in these areas, the military has carried out systematic patterns of violence and abuse against this population, including war crimes and possible crimes against humanity. This report examines what happened to the group of people who fled or were forced from rural towns and villages that had been controlled by Boko Haram, as the military intensified its operations.