TAGGING Boko Haram as a Foreign Terrorist Organization would automatically subject Nigerians to unfair and embarrassing scrutiny by American authorities.
This was a position expressed on Tuesday by Nigeria’s ambassador to the United States, Professor Ade Adefuye, in an address as the guest speaker of the 3rd Nigerian Institute of International Affairs symposium at the Louis Mbanefo Hall of the institute in Victoria Island, Lagos.
The envoy gave a background to the recent visit of Mrs. Clinton to Nigeria, saying that some members of Republican Party in the U.S. Congress had been pressuring the Obama administration to classify Boko Haram as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation, even as Nigeria continues to oppose on the measure out of the belief that doing so will elevate the status of Boko Haram and embolden them.
“We know from the experience of Afghanistan and Pakistan, such unmanned drones could lead to destruction of villages and people who are not directly involved in the activities of Boko Haram,” Ambassor Adefuye said.
According to Ambassador Adefuye, “we believe that Nigeria has the capacity to contain the threats of Boko Haram; we have dealt with a more complex threat represented by the Niger Delta militancy which threatened the economic interest of America.”
He said Boko Haram has not threatened the economic interest of U.S and the proposed plan to classify them as FTO, will elevate the status of the local terrorist group and will equally make it easier for Boko Haram to attract more international support from other terrorist groups in the international system.
Ambassador Adefuye said the experience of Abdulmutallab in 2010, which resulted in U.S. placing Nigeria on the Global Terror Watch list, is a guide to his embassy to strongly resist the move by the US diplomatic and political community.
Former Nigeria’s ambassador to the US, Professor George Obiozor in his contribution told the audience that Boko Haram is a big embarrassment to Nigeria in the international arena and its existence remains a major threat to attracting Foreign Direct Investment to Nigeria.
Meanwhile, two male youths suspected to be members of the Islamic terrorist group, Boko Haram, yesterday, died after an explosive device they were transporting on a motor bike to an undisclosed target in Kaduna suddenly went off, killing them on the spot.
According to an eyewitness account, the incident happened around 3:30pm along Aliyu Akilu Road, close to NNPC mega station by the junction of an exclusive Hausa/Fulani enclave of Abakwa in Kaduna metropolis.
Sani Musa, 21, a cobler, who spoke after the incident, said the two were heading to a target somewhere not far from where they got killed.
He said: “I was polishing a shoe under that three”, pointing to a huge mango tree besides the filling station, “when I heard something explode and we all jumped and ran to safety. Then we returned and saw an excited crowd. A motor bike was burning. And there were the bodies of two people killed by the explosion. They said that the two who came from Abakwa were trying to turn and ride to the military check point that you can see up there. But they hit a pothole and the bomb exploded on them”, he said.
At the time of this report, the Police in Kaduna, the State government and the Military were yet to comment on the incident.
Yesterday marked the fifth of such accidental explosions by bomb couriers in Kaduna in one year, the worst being that of last Easter Sunday, when a bomber’s car exploded at Sardauna crescent junction after the car was denied entry at the ECWA church, Gwari Road, about 200 metres away. About 55 people, mostly Muslims were killed in the explosion.