×

Nigeria Asks U.N. Al Qaeda Committee To Blacklist Boko Haram

There are strong indications that the Federal Government of Nigeria has formally asked the U.N. Security Council Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee, to blacklist the Islamist … Continue reading Nigeria Asks U.N. Al Qaeda Committee To Blacklist Boko Haram


The logo of the United Nations is seen on the outside of their headquarters in New YorkThere are strong indications that the Federal Government of Nigeria has formally asked the U.N. Security Council Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee, to blacklist the Islamist militant group, Boko Haram, after the kidnapping of hundreds of schoolgirls.

U.N. diplomats said that if there is no objection by the 15-member council committee, which operates by consensus, Boko Haram would be sanctioned on Thursday this week.

The diplomats, however, added that it would be difficult to object to such a request by Nigeria.

The document submitted by Nigeria to support its blacklisting request was said to have referenced a bomb attack on the United Nations’ Nigeria headquarters on August 26, 2011 that killed 24 people.

It also describes a “campaign of violence against Nigerian schools and students” by the group and referenced other attacks on schools in 2013, according to the diplomats.

Since April 2014, Nigerian authorities have been searching for more than 200 schoolgirls, who were kidnapped by the Boko Haram sect from Government Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State, in Northern Nigeria.

Since the girls’ abduction which has generated wide global condemnation and campaigns, tagged ‘Bring Back Our Girls’, the group has continued to carry out different deadly attacks in the Northern part of the country.