US Govt insists Boko Haram is Not a Branch of al-Qaeda

The United States Government has disclosed that the Islamic sect, Boko Haram was not affiliated to the global terrorist organisation, al-Qaeda.

This is coming following a declaration by President Goodluck Jonathan during the France security summit on the menace of the insurgent group on Saturday, that the Boko Haram sect, was the “al Qaeda of West Africa.”

However, the US said the Boko Haram sect has no link with al-Qaeda.

A statement by the US Consul General in Lagos on Monday quoted the US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Wendy Sherman, as saying this on the sidelines of the summit hosted by French President Francois Hollande in Paris on Saturday.

Sherman, who spoke to journalists alongside US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, and the US State Department Counter terrorism Coordinator, Tina Kaidelow, said UN sanctions on Boko Haram could be as quick as this week.

She said, “Boko Haram is its own terrorist group, and the United States has designated Boko Haram as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation. In this day and age, there is probably no terror group that does not have some links somehow, even if tenuous, to some other organisation. But for the most part, we treat Boko Haram as its own terror organisation.

“When you have sanctions at the UN, it does do asset freezes, travel freezes, a variety of things. It depends on how the designation is done. But I imagine this will happen rather quickly. Quite frankly, I can’t imagine any country who would not support this designation.”

According to her, the abducted schoolgirls have become “the girls of the world, not just of Nigeria.” He added that all efforts were being put in place to ensure that the West Africa sub-region was not turned to a breeding ground for terror.
She insisted that the American people “are not putting boots on the ground” in Nigeria for the girls’ rescue. Sherman noted that only intelligence assistance would be provided.

“If it were to be a rescue operation, that’s a very specific skill set and not every army in the world has that skill set. I know that there are some training, that have gone on with units of the military in Nigeria to build those skills, in other words, special forces skills. Whether they’d be able to attempt a rescue, I think it would just depend on the circumstances,” Sherman said.

On her part, Thomas-Greenfield, said the US was coordinating the joint efforts to rescue the girls very closely with the other teams.

“And Nigeria has assigned a senior person who is their point of contact, and they’re working very, very closely,” Thomas-Greenfield said.