The
President of the Christian Association of Nigeria on Tuesday urged the
United States to declare the Islamist group Boko Haram to be terrorists,
but a U.S official said it was more important to address social
inequalities.
In an unusually blunt appeal by a foreigner before the U.S Congress, the Ayo Oritsejafor said that a decision to blacklist three Boko Haram leaders as terrorists did not go far enough.
Oritsejafor said the U.S move on June 21 was "the equivalent of designating (Osama) bin Laden a terrorist but failing to designate Al-Qaeda a terrorist organization."
He said the reluctance to brand Boko Haram as terrorists had emboldened the group, which is estimated to have killed more than 1,000 people since mid-2009 in attacks on Christians and government sites.
"By refusing to designate Boko Haram as a foreign terrorist organization, the United States is sending a very clear message, not just to the federal government of Nigeria, but to the world that the murder of innocent Christians and Muslims who reject Islamism -- and I make a clear distinction here between Islam and Islamism -- are acceptable losses," Oritsejafor said.
"It is hypocritical for the United States and the international community to say that they believe in freedom and equality when their actions do not support those who are being persecuted," he told the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Oritsejafor said Boko Haram sought "an end to Western influence and a removal of the Christian presence in Nigeria," telling the U.S lawmakers: "My people are dying every day."
But the Assistant Secretary of state for African affairs, Johnnie Carson, told the hearing that Boko Haram was not homogeneous and that most of the group had the goal of trying to "embarrass or discredit" the government.
AFP says a designation as a foreign terrorist organization would trigger a full U.S government response against Boko Haram, freezing any assets it holds in America and making support of the group a crime.
Carson said the terrorist designation made sense for the three leaders -- Abubakar Shekau, Abubakar Adam Kambar and Khalid al-Barnawi -- due to links to Al-Qaeda, but that it would be counterproductive to target the entire movement.
In an unusually blunt appeal by a foreigner before the U.S Congress, the Ayo Oritsejafor said that a decision to blacklist three Boko Haram leaders as terrorists did not go far enough.
Oritsejafor said the U.S move on June 21 was "the equivalent of designating (Osama) bin Laden a terrorist but failing to designate Al-Qaeda a terrorist organization."
He said the reluctance to brand Boko Haram as terrorists had emboldened the group, which is estimated to have killed more than 1,000 people since mid-2009 in attacks on Christians and government sites.
"By refusing to designate Boko Haram as a foreign terrorist organization, the United States is sending a very clear message, not just to the federal government of Nigeria, but to the world that the murder of innocent Christians and Muslims who reject Islamism -- and I make a clear distinction here between Islam and Islamism -- are acceptable losses," Oritsejafor said.
"It is hypocritical for the United States and the international community to say that they believe in freedom and equality when their actions do not support those who are being persecuted," he told the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Oritsejafor said Boko Haram sought "an end to Western influence and a removal of the Christian presence in Nigeria," telling the U.S lawmakers: "My people are dying every day."
But the Assistant Secretary of state for African affairs, Johnnie Carson, told the hearing that Boko Haram was not homogeneous and that most of the group had the goal of trying to "embarrass or discredit" the government.
AFP says a designation as a foreign terrorist organization would trigger a full U.S government response against Boko Haram, freezing any assets it holds in America and making support of the group a crime.
Carson said the terrorist designation made sense for the three leaders -- Abubakar Shekau, Abubakar Adam Kambar and Khalid al-Barnawi -- due to links to Al-Qaeda, but that it would be counterproductive to target the entire movement.
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