U.S Rep., Group Seek Terrorist Designation For Boko Haram

THE Chairman of the United States House Committee on Homeland Security, Peter T. King and Executive Director of the Christian Association of Nigerian-Americans (CANAN), Pastor Laolu Akande, have both condemned last Sunday’s bombing of a Catholic church in northern Nigeria by the Boko Haram sect, which killed a woman, a child and injured 48.

In a joint statement, the duo decried the latest atrocity waged by the Islamist terror group at Saint John’s Catholic Church in Bauchi, as barbaric and one too many.

“Boko Haram is closely tied to al-Qaeda’s regional affiliates in North and East Africa, and presents a potential threat to our Homeland and citizens. With a renewed sense of urgency, we once again call upon the U.S. Department of State to formally designate Boko Haram as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.”

Twice this year, King and Rep. Patrick Meehan, Chairman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, have requested that Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton designate Boko Haram as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO).

Pastor Akande and other Nigerian-American Christians established CANAN on September 11, 2012, to address the Boko Haram terrorist killings in Nigeria and other broader issues related to Nigerian-Americans.