U.S. blacklists two Nigerian organizations as terror groups

WASHINGTON: The United States on Wednesday named Nigeria’s Boko Haram and Ansaru as foreign terrorist organizations and slapped sanctions on them.

“Today, the United States designated Nigeria-based groups Boko Haram and Ansaru as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists,” said Lisa Monaco, President Barack Obama’s top advisor on homeland security and counterterrorism, in a statement.

The move entailed immediate sanctions against the two groups, including denied access to U.S. financial institutions, a freezing on their assets in U.S. banks and a ban on doing business with or providing support to them.

“These designations demonstrate our strong support for Nigeria’ s fight against terrorism and its efforts to address security challenges in the north,” Monaco said.

Founded in 2001, Boko Haram, a nickname meaning “Western education is forbidden,” is an Islamic militant organization operating in northeastern Nigeria, north of Cameroon and Niger, with links to al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, as the U.S. State Department put it.

Ansaru is a splinter group of Boko Haram.

Monaco said Boko Haram and Ansaru have been responsible for thousands of deaths in northeast and central Nigeria in the past few years, including dozens of attacks on churches and mosques, targeted killings of civilians, and the 2011 suicide bombing of the United Nations building in Abuja that killed 21 people and injured dozens more.

The Nigerian government has declared a state of emergency in northeastern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe.

In his meeting with Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan in September, Obama encouraged Nigeria to pursue a “comprehensive” counterterrorism approach that combines effective law enforcement, economic opportunity and protection of human rights.

“The United States stands firmly with the people of Nigeria in their efforts to bring the terrorist violence perpetrated by these groups to an end,” Monaco said.

[http://www.mizonews.net/world/u-s-blacklists-two-nigerian-organizations-terror-groups/]

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