World powers set to sanction Boko Haram

The global powers led by France have agreed to introduce sanctions against Boko Haram and Ansarul terrorist groups in Nigeria, within the framework of the United Nations.

The decision was reached on Saturday in Paris, France, at the regional Summit on Security convened by President Francois Hollande to fashion ways to deal with the Boko Haram terrorist group.

A communique issued at the end of the summit and made available to NAN, said the summit agreed on a number of initiatives to curtail the excesses of the insurgents.

It also agreed to mobilise funds in support of women and girls in marginalised areas. NAN reports that the special summit deliberated on the current security situation in Nigeria.

It was convened and chaired by the French President, Francois Hollande.

It was attended by Presidents Goodluck Jonathan, Boni Yayi of Benin Republic, Idriss Deby of Chad, Paul Biya of Cameroon and Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger Republic.

Also at the summit were the European Union, United States Secretary of State, Sen. John Kerry, and the Rt. Hon. William Hague, the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary of the United Kingdom.

At the end of the summit, Nigeria and its neighbours agreed to build response capabilities that would contribute to enhancing the security of all populations and the rule of law in the areas affected by Boko Haram’s terrorist acts.

They also decided to immediately on a bilateral basis implement coordinated patrols to combat Boko Haram and locating the Chibok girls.

In the communique, countries are to establish intelligence pooling unit, create a dedicated team to identify means of implementation and draw up regional counter-terrorism strategy in the framework of the Lake Chad Basin Commission.

“The United States, the United Kingdom, France and the European Union will coordinate their support for this regional cooperation through technical expertise, training programmes and support for the border area management programmes,” it added.

The participants restated commitment to accelerating the implementation of international sanctions against Boko Haram, Ansaru and their main leaders.

France, US, Britain and the European Union pledged to mobilise donors in support of programmes fostering social economic development of the regions concerned with particular emphasis on gender equality and the rights of women and girls.

The participants agreed that the United Kingdom would host a follow up meeting next month at ministerial level to review progress on the action plan.