US Designates Boko Haram and Ansaru as Foreign Terrorist Organizations

File Photo
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
November 13, 2013

Statement by Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, Lisa Monaco

Today, the United States designated Nigeria-based groups Boko Haram and Ansaru as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists. In the last several years, Boko Haram and Ansaru have been responsible for thousands of deaths in northeast and central Nigeria, 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.

By cutting these terrorist organizations off from U.S. financial institutions and enabling banks to freeze assets held in the United States, these designations demonstrate our strong support for Nigeria’s fight against terrorism and its efforts to address security challenges in the north.

As President Obama emphasized when he met with Nigerian President Jonathan in September, we encourage Nigeria to pursue a comprehensive counterterrorism approach that uses law enforcement tools effectively, creates economic opportunity, and ensures that human rights are protected and respected. 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.

About Boko Haram

The Congregation of the People of Tradition for Proselytism and Jihad better known by its Hausa name Boko Haram is an Islamic jihadist militant organization based in the northeast of Nigeria, north Cameroon and Niger. Founded by Mohammed Yusuf in 2001, the organization seeks to establish a “pure” Islamic state ruled by sharia law putting a stop to what it deems “Westernization.” The group is known for attacking Christians and government targets, bombing churches, attacking schools and police stations, but has also assassinated members of the Islamic establishment. Violence linked to the Boko Haram insurgency has resulted in an estimated 10,000 deaths between 2001 and 2013 and roughly 3,600 killed, including 1,600 civilians between 2009 and 2013.
The group exerts influence in the northeastern Nigerian states of Borno, Adamawa, Kaduna, Bauchi, Yobe and Kano. In this region, a state of emergency has been declared. The group does not have a clear structure or evident chain of command and has been called “diffuse” with a “cell-like structure” facilitating factions and splits. It is reportedly divided into three factions with a splinter group known as Ansaru.

Whether it has links to terror groups outside Nigeria is disputed. According to one US military commander, Boko Haram is likely linked to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), but others have found no evidence of material international support, and attacks by the group on international targets have so far been rare. The United States Department of State has offered a $7 million reward for Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau’s capture. In the UK, Boko Haram has been banned from operating. On November 13 2013 the United States designated the group a terrorist organization.

Many of the group’s senior radicals were reportedly partially inspired by the late Islamic preacher known as Maitatsine. Others believe the group is motivated by inter-ethnic disputes as much as religion, and that its founder Yusuf believed there was a campaign of “ethnic cleansing” by Plateau State governor Jonah Jang against the Hausa and Fulani people.