Terrorism:What Us Listing Means For Nigeria..

[Justin Nnamdi]

The listing of three members of the Boko Haram as terrorists posing threat to the security of the United States of America has created apprehension in the minds of many Nigerians. What is the implication of the listing? Will Nigerians wake up one day to find American drones in the sky searching for the listed individuals? Weekly Trust reports

Some members of the US Congress have been mounting pressure on President Barack Obama to include Boko Haram in the terrorist watch list of the United States which was started by his predecessor former President George W. Bush. Penultimate Thursday, June 21, 2012 the US Department of State designated Abubakar Shekau, Abubakar Adam Kambar, and Khalid al-Barnawi, but it still fell short of the blanket designation the members wanted for the group.

The three had therefore been included in the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists under section 1(b) of Executive Order 13224. The designation blocks all of Shekau's, Kambar's and al-Barnawi's property interests subject to U.S. jurisdiction and prohibits U.S. persons from engaging in transactions with or for the benefit of these individuals.

"These designations demonstrate the United States' resolve in diminishing the capacity of Boko Haram to execute violent attacks. The Department of State took these actions in consultation with the Departments of Justice and Treasury," said a statement by the State Department.

Shekau, the statement said, is the most visible leader of the Nigeria-based militant group Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati Wal-Jihad, commonly referred to as Boko Haram. Khalid al-Barnawi and Abubakar Adam Kambar have ties to Boko Haram and have close links to al-Qa'ida in the Islamic Maghreb, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.

Since this designation, there have been various reactions from several quarters including top government functionaries, religious leaders, international relations expert, and more. There was however no response from members of the dreaded sect. An email sent to their address by Weekly Trust was not immediately replied, while the United States embassy in Nigeria declined comments on the issue, especially its implication for Nigeria and Nigerians.

According to Dr. Ameachi Nwokolo, a Belgium-based Nigerian Counter-Terrorism expert, "once the United States identifies a terrorist, it can employ whatever tactics it feels is right to track such wanted persons down. So, as it is, Nigeria should expect different dimensions to be used to get these guys (those designated as terrorists)."

He expressed fears on the consequences of such listing and how these terror suspects could be tracked down. "The whole exercise might end up leaving behind huge security problems in the country even after the suspects have been tracked," adding that "Nigeria is a country where the people have deep religious sentiment. The moment some people get affected directly or indirectly in the process of tracking the terror suspects, they would pitch tents based on their religious faith. There, the government, the U.S security would start facing problems."

He said what the United States should have done was just to assist Nigerian government to handle her problems based on the country's sociological ideologies.

Dr. Nwokolo also advised against exaggerating the problem, saying "we should be careful not to internationalize this problem to a stage we cannot handle. Any terrorism activity that has taken international dimension is not easy to solve. Moreover, terrorism is everywhere in the world. In Russia, Ukraine and a lot other Eastern European countries, there are such cases, but nobody would contemplate interfering."

Also speaking, Dr. Usman Mohammed, a Political Scientist in the University of Abuja believes that the listing of these Boko Haram terror suspects is an orchestrated plan that has been in the pipeline for America and other western countries to re-colonize Africa and Nigeria in particular.

"If you remember, the Germans signed a defense pact with the Nigerian government some time ago, the United States itself has been in all our crisis-torn areas years ago, it didn't start today, I tell you. Their intelligence apparatus have been gathering information in Maiduguri, Jos, Kaduna, Niger/Delta etc. The Israelis also have been on ground. The idea should have been to train and assist our security agencies in terms of reconnaissance expertise, counter-terrorism among others, but I bet you it is far from what the eye is seeing."

He said the U.S. has already entered Africa, "they have places in Mozambique, Njiboti etc. they also have collaboration around the Burundi, Rwanda areas, where the Lord Resistance Army holds sway. However, with this penetration, all they need to do is train the native security operatives and later use them effectively."

However, Dr. Mohammed said   the Americans have learnt a bitter lesson in such experience, especially with the Somalia case, where their soldiers were killed at will and maimed; they wouldn't want to repeat that. Hence, they would resort to working with local security in the name of training.

"They are very careful now; they don't want to lose their men in such operations, so I don't see them adopting the Afghan and Pakistani or Iraq tactics. They won't bring in troops. No. In fact, they have been here for long, this mention of it is for people who don't know what is happening, they have got all the required information they need a long time ago.

"They would have an unhindered access to everywhere. They would use technology and probably employ a drone operation to get exactly where the suspects are. But if this happens, there is bound to be massive civilian casualties."

Dr.   Mohammed further said   he believes that there is more to it than security alone, adding that the first priority of the American would be to fortify the Niger Delta, where their main goal and interest lies (oil). He said the plan to come into Africa using terrorism has long been planned. After Middle East, Africa was next; they have mentioned it long ago. The reason is economic; they want to find a 'lasting solution' to their economic crisis. Meanwhile, Africa has a lot of resources that is wasting. When they start such mission, there would be no going back."

Why Nigeria is jittery

Nigeria has long voiced opposition to the plan by the United States government to designate Boko Haram as terrorists. Top government functionaries including the sacked National Security Adviser Andrew Azazi, and former Defence Minister Dr Bello Halliru as well as Nigeria's Ambassador to the US Ade Adefuye had all tried to stop the designation of Boko Haram as a foreign terrorist organisation. Indeed, Azazi and Adefuye, at a series of meetings held between Nigerian and US officials under the US-Nigeria binational commission, formally requested the United States to drop the idea of including Boko Haram in its watch list of foreign terrorist groups posing a threat to the US or its global interests.

Their argument was that doing this could have serious implications and negatively affect Nigerian citizens travelling to the US.

The Secretary General of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Dr. Lateef Adegbite also pleaded with the United States to drop the idea of listing Boko Haram as a terrorist group. Speaking to reporters at the Stat House, Abuja, Adegbite said  "how do (the Americans) know who is Boko Haram and who is not? They may see someone like me with my long beard and think I am Boko Haram," he said, adding that "the implication will be very serious. We are appealing to (the U.S.) to give Nigeria more time to dialogue with our people and we hope we will reintegrate them into our fold. So, they should move ahead slowly."

However, sometime in February this year, Nigeria's Chief of Defense Staff Air Chief Marshal Oluseyi Petinrin said "we have been able to link the activities of the Boko Haram sect to the support and training the sect received from AQIM (Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb)," which the designation of the three members of Boko Haram as terrorists was based.

Source
Daily Trust

[Justin Nnamdi]