UNITED NATIONS (AFP) – The United
Nations blacklisted and imposed sanctions on Boko Haram as an Al-Qaeda-linked
terror group Thursday, a month after it claimed the kidnapping of more than 200
Nigerian schoolgirls.
The designation, which was immediately
welcomed by Britain and the United States, came into effect after no objections
were raised by the Security Council’s 15 members.
The move subjects Boko Haram to UN sanctions,
including an arms embargo, asset freeze and travel ban.
The group, which was created 10 years ago,
demands the creation of an Islamic state in mainly Muslim northern Nigeria.
Their attacks have left thousands dead since 2009.
US ambassador Samantha Power hailed the move
as “an important step” in support of Nigeria’s efforts “to defeat Boko Haram
and hold its murderous leadership accountable for atrocities.”
Nigeria, criticised by the United States for
failing to react quickly enough to the rise of Boko Haram, had asked the
Al-Qaeda sanctions committee to blacklist the group and impose sanctions.
“It is significant step,” Nigerian ambassador
Joy Ogwu told reporters in anticipation on Wednesday. “The important thing is
to attack the problem and that is terrorism,” she added.
- Sanctions skepticism -
Experts question whether sanctions will have
any real impact on a group based in a part of Nigeria that operates on a cash
economy.
Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the
kidnapping in mid-April of more than 200 schoolgirls in Chibok, in northeastern
Nigeria which sparked international outrage.
The imposition of UN sanctions was recommended
last Saturday at a conference in Paris that brought together Benin, Britain,
Chad, Cameroon, France Niger, Nigeria and the United States.
The United States and a number of other
countries have already designated Boko Haram as a terrorist organisation in an
attempt to cut off any overseas funding for the group.
Power said the United States would continue
doing everything possible to help bring back the kidnapped schoolgirls and to
work with the government of Nigeria to eliminate Boko Haram.
“The Security Council has helped to close off
important avenues of funding, travel and weapons to Boko Haram, and shown
global unity against their savage actions,” she said in a statement.
In the last five weeks, Boko Haram has stepped
up attacks outside the northeast, worst affected by the insurgency, leading to
fears of an escalation of violence across the country.
Hours before the girls’ kidnapping, the group
bombed a crowded bus station in the Abuja suburb of Nyanya, killing 75. A
copy-cat bombing at the same location on May 1 left 19 dead.
On Tuesday, two car bombs ripped through a
busy market within 20 minutes of each other in the central city of Jos, killing
at least 118, in Nigeria’s deadliest such attack.
Nigeria has concentrated on a mainly military
response to Boko Haram. More than 2,000 people, most of them civilians, have
been killed this year alone as a result of the violence and the military’s
response, according to human rights and monitoring groups. Critics have called
into question the military’s reliance on conventional tactics to fight an enemy
waging a guerrilla war and urged “soft power” strategies to be used at the same
time.
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