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U.S President Barack Obama seems to have realised the enormous threat posed by the Islamist militant group, Boko Haram, not only to Nigeria but also the world at large. Speaking during his commencement address to the U.S. Military Academy’s graduating class at West Point on Wednesday, the Kenyan born American president stated that ‘no American security operation can eradicate the threat posed by Boko Haram’. In his words: “Tragically, no American security operation can eradicate the threat posed by an extremist group like Boko Haram, the group that kidnapped those girls, and that’s why we have to focus not just on rescuing those girls right away, but also on supporting Nigerian efforts to educate its youth.”
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| * Boko Haram insurgents |
It could be recalled that more than 200 schoolgirls were kidnapped in April and later showed up in a propaganda video Boko Haram made, showing them in Islamic garb with an al Qaeda banner hanging behind them.
Also on Monday, it was reported that the group killed 31 security personnel, security sources and witnesses at a Nigerian military base in Buni Yadi.
The attack was said to have taken place not far from where insurgents shot or burned to death 59 students at a boarding school in February.
“Regional aggression that goes unchecked – whether in southern Ukraine or in the south China Sea or anywhere else in the world – will ultimately impact our allies and could draw in our military. We can’t ignore what happens beyond our boundaries,” Obama said.
* President Jonathan and Barack Obama
“And beyond these narrow rationales, I believe we have a real stake, abiding self-interest in making sure our children and our grandchildren grow up in a world where schoolgirls are not kidnapped and where individuals are not slaughtered because of tribe or faith or political belief,” Obama added.
The UN Security Council blacklisted Boko Haram last week and also approved sanctions against it.
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