“The kidnapping of
hundreds of children by Boko Haram is an unconscionable crime, and we
will do everything possible to support the Nigerian government to return
these young women to their homes and to hold the perpetrators to
justice. I will tell you, my friends, I have seen this scourge of terror
across the planet, and so have you. They don't offer anything except
violence. They don't offer a health care plan, they don't offer schools.
They don't tell you how to build a nation; they don't talk about how
they will provide jobs. They just tell people, "You have to behave the
way we tell you to," and they will punish you if you don't.”
--Secretary of State John F. Kerry
Nigeria
is a key strategic partner in Africa. Nigeria has the continent’s
largest population and largest economy, and it plays a vital role in
efforts to resolve crises and promote stability and prosperity in West
Africa and beyond. In the midst of rapid economic growth, however,
Nigeria faces security challenges, notably Boko Haram (BH), a violent
Islamist movement that has staged regular attacks in northern Nigeria
since 2010. Given Nigeria’s importance as a regional political and
economic leader, the U.S. has a vital interest in helping to strengthen
Nigeria’s democratic institutions, boost Nigeria’s prosperity and
security, and ensure opportunity for all of its citizens. The U.S. and
Nigeria also work closely together in multilateral fora, including the
UN Security Council, where Nigeria is serving a term as a non-permanent
member for 2014-2015.
As the President noted in his National
Defense University speech in May 2013, countering terrorism requires a
holistic approach. We continue to work with Nigeria and other
international partners to help promote and support such an approach to
Boko Haram. The United States has been working to counter BH for many
years, and we will continue to do so. The first part of this fact sheet
provides information about BH and the many atrocities it committed in
Nigeria prior to its attack on a girls’ secondary school in Chibok,
Borno State, where it kidnapped approximately 300 girls. The latter part
provides information about various U.S. Department of State initiatives
and programs to assist Nigeria’s counterterrorism efforts, such as the
Antiterrorism Assistance Program and the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism
Partnership.
* * *
The U.S. government designated Boko
Haram as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and as a Specially
Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order (E.O.) 13224 on
November 14, 2013. (A transcript of an interview with senior officials
about this designation can be found here:
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2013/11/217532.htm.)
BH commander Abubakar Shekau, Khalid al-Barnawi, and Abubakar Adam
Kambar were designated on June 21, 2012, as Specially Designated Global
Terrorists under section 1(b) of E.O. 13224. (A fact sheet about FTO and
E.O. designations can be found here:
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2014/01/219520.htm.)
Since June 2013, the State Department’s Rewards for Justice program has
advertised a reward offer of up to US $7 million for information
leading to the location of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau.
BH
is a Nigeria-based group responsible for numerous attacks in northern
and northeastern Nigeria that have killed thousands of people since its
emergence in 2009, and conducted high-profile kidnappings of Westerners
in the Far North Region of Cameroon. In 2013 alone, BH has carried out
kidnappings, killings, bombings, and attacks on civilian and military
targets in northern Nigeria, resulting in over 1,000 deaths and
injuries. BH primarily operates in northeastern Nigeria, Cameroon’s Far
North Region, and the Lake Chad Basin, and receives the bulk of its
funding from bank robberies and related criminal activities, including
extortion and kidnapping for ransom. The group espouses a violent
extremist ideology and at times has received some limited assistance,
including funds and training, from al Qa’ida in the Islamic Maghreb
(AQIM).
Among its most lethal attacks, BH was responsible for
indiscriminate attacks in Benisheikh, Nigeria in September 2013 that
killed more than 160 civilians, many of them women and children. Other
major attacks that have been claimed by or attributed to BH since 2011
have included:
An August 26, 2011, a bomb attack on the UN building in Abuja killed at least 21 people and injured over 120.
On
November 4, 2011, multiple vehicle-borne improvised explosive device
(VBIED) and improvised explosive device (IED) attacks in Yobe and Borno
States targeted security force offices and the Military's Joint Task
Force (JTF) offices, as well as several markets and 11 churches.
More
than 100 people were killed, including nearly 70 bystanders at a major
traffic circle in the center of Damaturu, Yobe State.
On January
20, 2012, multiple near-simultaneous attacks in Kano State were carried
out on at least 12 targets including police stations, an immigration
office, and the residence of an Assistant Inspector General of Police.
Over 150 persons were killed and hundreds were wounded.
In April
2012, assailants attacked the Theatre Hall at Bayero University, Kano,
with IEDs and gunshots, killing nearly 20 persons.
On April 26,
2012, VBIEDs simultaneously exploded at the offices of This Day
newspaper in Abuja and Kaduna, killing five persons and wounding many
others.
On June 17, 2012, attacks on three churches in Kaduna
State killed worshippers and instigated violence throughout the State.
At least 10 people were killed and an additional 78 were injured in the
riots that ensued.
On February 8, 2013 nine Nigerian women
working in a polio vaccination campaign in Kano were killed by gunmen
riding in three-wheeled motorcycles; several other polio workers were
injured.
On March 18, 2013, a VBIED attack on two luxury buses at
a motor park in the Sabon Gari neighborhood of Kano killed more than 20
persons and wounded scores.
On July 6, 2013, over 50 students were killed in their dormitories at Mamudo Government Secondary School in Yobe State.
On
August 11, 2013, gunmen killed approximately 44 persons praying at a
mosque outside Maiduguri and another 12 civilians in a near-simultaneous
attack at a nearby location in Borno State.
On September 29, 2013, gunmen killed more than 40 students in the dormitory of an agricultural technical school in Yobe State.
In November 2013, BH members kidnapped a French priest in Cameroon.
On
December 2, 2013, a coordinated and complex attack by violent
extremists on the Maiduguri airport and air force base killed over 24
persons, wounded dozens, and destroyed a large amount of military
equipment, including several military helicopters.
On December 20,
2013, violent extremists assaulted the Nigerian army barracks in Bama,
southern Borno State, in a well-coordinated attack that killed
approximately 20 military personnel and numerous civilians.
On January 14, 2014, at least at least 31 were killed and 50 injured by suicide bomber in Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria.
On February 16, 2014, BH raided Izghe village, Borno State, killing an estimated 115 people.
On
February 25, 2014, over 59 teenage boys were killed in an attack on
Federal Government College, Buni Yadi, Yobe State, Nigeria.
On April
14, 2014, BH attacked a girls’ secondary school in Chibok, Borno State,
Nigeria, with 16 killed and approximately 300 girls kidnapped.
Also on April 14, 2014, a morning rush hour bomb killed at least 71 on at a bus depot on the outskirts of Abuja.
On
May 5, 2014, an attack lasting 12 hours on towns of Gamboru and Ngala
in Borno State, Nigeria, killed an estimated 300 people.
Counterterrorism Assistance to Nigeria
Counterterrorism
support to Nigeria focuses on building critical counterterrorism
capabilities among Nigeria’s civilian and law enforcement agencies. This
supports the larger U.S. objective of encouraging Nigeria to develop
and implement a comprehensive approach to counter BH that upholds and
enforces the rule of law, provides civilian protection, respects human
rights and international norms, and addresses the underlying grievances
that BH exploits (including through development gains and through
responsive governance).
Based on our longstanding concerns about
Boko Haram, we have a robust security dialogue and assistance
relationship with Nigeria. As part of the Bi-National Commission
Framework, we hold regular Regional Security working group meetings
focused on the Boko Haram threat and ways our two governments can
collaborate on a holistic approach to countering the group.
Our
security assistance is in line with our efforts to ensure Nigeria takes a
comprehensive approach to countering Boko Haram. We are working to
build Nigerian law enforcement capacities to investigate terrorism
cases, effectively deal with explosive devices, and secure Nigeria’s
borders, while underscoring that the most effective counterterrorism
policies and practices are those that respect human rights and are
underpinned by the rule of law. We are also focused on enabling various
Nigerian security services with fusing multiple information streams to
develop a better understanding of Boko Haram. Our military assistance
supports the professionalization of key military units and improves
their ability to plan and implement appropriate steps to counter Boko
Haram and ensure civilian security.
The State Department’s
Antiterrorism Assistance (ATA) program enhances Nigerian law
enforcement’s capability to prevent, detect, and investigate terrorism
threats; secure Nigeria’s borders; and manage responses to terrorist
incidents. ATA’s primary partners are the Nigerian Police Force (NPF),
Customs Service, Immigration Service, and National Emergency Management
Agency. ATA represents the only donor assistance to Nigerian law
enforcement on identifying, diffusing, and the safe disposal of
improvised explosives devices (IEDs). ATA curriculum has been integrated
into NPF training curriculum, supporting its ability to respond to IED
attacks in Abuja and to deploy to the northeast part of the country
where Boko Haram attacks are the most frequent.
Countering
violent extremism (CVE) programs aim to limit recruits to BH by reducing
sympathy and support for its operations, through three primary
objectives: (1) building resilience among communities most at risk of
recruitment and radicalization to violence; (2) countering BH narratives
and messaging; and building the CVE capacity of government and civil
society. Such efforts include promoting engagement between law
enforcement and citizens, and elevating the role of women civil society
leaders in CVE.
The Center for Strategic Counterterrorism
Communications has developed a strong partnership with the Government of
Nigeria, and in conjunction with other international partners, provided
assistance on developing a comprehensive communications strategy.
Nigeria
is an active member of the Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF), and
the United States has used the multilateral platform the Forum offers to
introduce justice sector officials from Nigeria and neighboring
countries to a series of judicial tools to investigate and prosecute
terrorism cases in conformity with their domestic and international
human rights obligations. As part of this effort, the United States and
Nigeria have co-hosted a series of experts’ workshops in Abuja on these
issues. In addition, Nigeria will join the United States as one of the
founding members of the International Institute on Justice and the Rule
of Law (IIJ), which will open its doors in June 2014 in Malta, and
provide rule of law based training on how to counter terrorism and other
transnational criminal activity within a rule of law framework. As a
founding member, Nigeria will be expected to ensure its police,
prosecutors, and prison officials are regular participants in IIJ
trainings.
Nigeria is a member of the Trans-Sahara
Counterterrorism Partnership (TSCTP), a U.S. government-funded and
implemented effort designed to enhance regional security sector capacity
to counter violent extremism, improve country and regional border and
customs systems, strengthen financial controls, and build law
enforcement and security sector capacity. TSCTP provides counter-IED and
civil-military operations training to the Nigerian military, and crisis
management and border security training to Nigerian law enforcement
agencies. Nigeria also participates in larger regional training
opportunities such as combat medical, military intelligence,
communications and logistics training with other TSCTP partner nations
(Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco,
Niger, Senegal, and Tunisia).
Nigeria has also agreed to become a
pilot country to the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund
(GCERF), a GCTF-inspired initiative announced by Secretary Kerry at the
September 2013 GCTF ministerial. This will enable community-based
organizations in Nigeria to receive grants from the GCERF to carry out
grass-roots CVE projects.
The State Department’s
Counterterrorism Finance (CTF) program provides training that aims to
restrict Boko Haram’s ability to raise, move, and store money. CTF’s
current focus provides Nigeria with cross border financial
investigations training to work effectively with counterparts in
neighboring countries on critical CTF cases.
Source:
http://photos.state.gov/libraries/nigeria/487468/pdfs/Factsheet-BokoHaram-May142014.pdf
