Post date: Jun 21, 2012 6:29:41 PM
LAGOS, NIGERIA (JUNE 21, 2012) (REUTERS) - Nigerians say a U.S. government decision to add Boko Haram members to its "terrorist" list could make the volatile situation in their country worse.
Nigerians say a U.S. government decision to label Boko Haram members as "terrorists" will do nothing to ease the situation in their country.
The United States on Thursday (June 21) named three alleged leaders of the Nigerian militant group as "foreign terrorists", the first time it has blacklisted members of the Islamist group blamed for attacks across the African country.
But some say the U.S. decision has not been well thought out.
"If you don't use the right solutions, it may be counter-productive and I think that is the point that we need to be very careful about. Just declaring Boko Haram as a terrorist group without more, for me, it's not going to solve the problem. In fact it may even lead initially to an escalation of the problem," said Lagos Barrister Bamidele Aturu.
The action by the State and Treasury departments follows growing pressure on the Obama administration to take stronger action against Boko Haram, which has stepped up attacks on Christian places of worship this year in its drive to establish an Islamic caliphate in northern Nigeria.
But some Nigerians say there are others in the country who should also be given suitable labels.
"We should also give proper tagging and designation to those who do not perform, to those who are wasting our money, to those who have no vision of where to take Nigeria and they are still in power. We should also give them a name and be able to take actions to galvanise them to either doing something or leave office," said Lagos lawyer Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa.
The U.S. State Department identified the three Boko Haram leaders as Abubakar Shekau, who it called the "most visible" leader of the group, and Abubakar Adam Kambar and Khalid al-Barnawi, who it said were tied both to Boko Haram and to al Qaeda's north African wing.
U.S. officials say the decision to list individual Boko Haram members, rather than apply the more sweeping "Foreign Terrorist Organisation" label to the group as a whole as some U.S. lawmakers have demanded, reflected a desire not to elevate the group's profile.
The action freezes any assets the three men have in the United States, and bar U.S. citizens from any transactions with them.