Abducted girls: Nigeria, neighbours ‘declare war’ on Boko Haram

Abuja ready to refer group to UN Security Council for sanctions.

PARIS:

After approving a plan of action to combat Boko Haram with its neighbours, Nigeria is ready to refer the militant group to the United Nations Security Council for sanctions, a Western diplomatic source said on Saturday.

“Nigeria has agreed in principle to a draft resolution at the UN Security Council to impose sanctions on Boko Haram,” the source said. Nigeria, currently a member of the council, will have to make the request first before sanctions can be examined, the source added.

Earlier in the day, Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan met with his counterparts from Benin, Chad, Cameroon and Niger in Paris, approved an action plan designed to counter Boko Haram. The heads of states vowed to work together to combat Boko Haram in what Cameroon President Paul Biya described as a declaration of war on the militant group.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 18^th, 2014.