Hottestgistnaija.com
The Barack Obama administration in US will today (Thursday) formally label Boko Haram as a ‘terrorist’ organisation and will also place three leaders of the deadly sect on wanted list, to be captured dead or alive for having ties with al-Qaeda.
The action by the State and Treasury departments follows growing pressure on the Obama Administration to take stronger action against Boko Haram. The group, which says it wants to establish an Islamic caliphate in northern Nigeria, has stepped up attacks on Christian places of worship this year. Todays action, officials said, involves applying the “terrorist” designation to three men presumed to be central figures in the group.
The three individuals, an official said, are Abubakar Shekau, aged around 43, described as a Boko Haram leader who allegedly aligned himself with al Qaeda in a video message; Abubakar Adam Kambar, aged roughly 35; and Khalid al Barnawi, aged approximately 36. All three are native Nigerians.
The expected action will freeze any assets they have in the United States, and bar U.S. persons from any transactions with them.
It is among the first such action the U.S. government has taken against Boko Haram, but falls short of demands from some U.S. lawmakers and the Justice Department to designate the entire group as a “foreign terrorist organization.
Boko Haram increasingly is seen as a potent threat to Nigeria, the continent’s most populous state and major oil producer, and as part of growing arc of Islamist extremist groups stretching across northern Africa.
However, U.S. diplomats are weighing these demands against counter arguments, including those made by a group of academic experts on Africa who sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last month urging her not to designate Boko Haram as a terrorist group.
This is to happen in few hours. While U.S Government is trying to combat the terrorist group Boko-haram, The Nigerian president Jonathan is dancing samba in Brazil. The ironies of life!
