Nigerian Government Asks UN al Qaeda Committee To Blacklist Boko Haram
Nigeria has formally asked the United Nations Security Council al Qaeda Sanctions Committee to blacklist the Islamist group Boko Haram. This information is contained in a confidential document obtained by Reuters.
Until recently, Nigeria had been reluctant to seek international assistance to combat the sect. But the abduction of nearly 300 school girls seems to have made the government change its mind.
If there is no objection by the 15-member council committee, which operates by consensus, Boko Haram will be sanctioned on Thursday, May 22. The sanctions would include an international asset freeze, travel ban and arms embargo.
Nigeria is one of the 10 current non-permanent member of the Security Council, a UN body primarily responsible for maintaining peace and security.
The Nigerian mission to the United Nations in its letter to the committee said that the Boko Haram listing request had been "necessitated by the recent upsurge in its activities, particularly in northeast Nigeria".
The draft UN listing entry describes Boko Haram as an affiliate of al Qaeda and the Organisation of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
"Boko Haram has maintained a relationship with the Organisation of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb for training and material support purposes," according to the draft narrative summary accompanying the proposed listing.
"For example, Boko Haram gained valuable knowledge on the construction of improvised explosive devices from AQIM. A number of Boko Haram members fought alongside al Qaeda affiliated groups in Mali 2012 and 2013 before returning to Nigeria with terrorist expertise," it reads.
The draft narrative summary also references attacks in 2013 and 2014, stating that "since summer 2012, Boko Haram has undertaken a campaign of violence against Nigerian schools and students."
Nigeria's request also references a bomb attack on the UN' Nigeria headquarters on August 26, 2011 that killed 24 people and a Christmas Day 2011 bombing of a church in Madalla, on the outskirts of Abuja, that took lived of 37 people.
Earlier this week the US State Department Counterterrorism Coordinator stated that Boko Haram was not a branch of Al Qaeda and "should be treated as its 'own terrorist group".
Council diplomats told Reuters they did not expect any objections to the blacklisting of the sect, but said the expedited three-day time frame for approval by governments could be too tight for some members.
Who are Boko Haram?
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The militant Islamist group Boko Haram, which in the Hausa language means broadly "Western education is sinful," is loosely modelled on the Taliban movement in Afghanistan.
The sect is fighting to overthrow the government and create an Islamic state. It uses such horrible methods as bombings, assassinations and abductions. The group carries out most of its attacks in the northeast Nigerian states – Borno, Yobe and Adamawa.
The three states have been under the state of emergency since May 2013. However, the governors of the affected states claimed that the emergency rule had only led to more death of civilians.
The Boko Haram insurgents promote a version of Islam that makes it "haram" – or forbidden – for Muslims to take part in any political or social activity associated with Western culture; this includes voting in elections, wearing shirts and trousers or receiving a secular education.
A Muslim cleric, Mohammed Yusuf, formed the group in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno, in 2002. Boko Haram carried out its first spate of attacks on police stations and other government buildings in Maiduguri in 2009.
After the capture and execution of Yusuf, the militants regrouped under a new leader, Abubakar Shekau. Nigerian government, however, claimed that Shekau had been killed by the military several months ago.
Since 2009 the Islamist group killed more than 4,000 people, as well as destroyed thousands of homes, churches, mosques and schools.
On April 15 Boko Haram have kidnapped nearly 300 students from the dormitories of the Government Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State. Some of the girls managed to escape, while the whereabouts of 234 teenagers remain unknown. On May 12 the insurgents released a video showing 137 of the abducted girls, threatening to sell them so slavery.
According to the latest reports, on May 20 Boko Haram militants killed 17 residents of Alagarno village, Borno State.
Source: Legit.ng
