- Group claims Nigerians among Bin Laden Taliban/Al Qaeda fighters formed nucleus of Boko Haram who attacked UN Building
A U.S. based rights organization, US-Nigeria Law Group, has asked the American government to declassify and release its findings on Nigerians captured amongst Al Qaeda’s foreign fighters who fought alongside Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan 20 years ago, saying that it was these terrorists’ fighters that formed the nucleus of “The Nigerian Taliban,” which later became known as Boko Haram.
The group noted that it was the failure to share this information with Nigeria that “is a proximate cause of the establishment of “The Nigerian Taliban” which later became the world’s deadliest terrorists group.
The U.S. group also spoke on the 10th anniversary of the Boko Haram bombing of the United Nations (UN) Building, Abuja, which came up last Thursday, asking the U.S. government to also declassify the identities of its citizens who died in the bombing.
On Friday August 26, 2011, a suicide bomber detonated a vehicle packed with explosives outside the United Nations headquarters in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, destroying several floors in a thunderous blast that left at least 18 people dead.
Convener of the group, Emmanuel Ogebe, said in a statement marked, ‘UN Bombing 10th Memorial: time for the truth, that “sadly, 10 years after, there has been no real justice for the victims of the bombing.
“Worse still, the U.S. continues to deny that Americans were ever victims of Boko Haram terrorism particularly in that blast, including in FOIA requests we filed. I call on President (Joe) Biden to declassify the information on American victims of Boko Haram.
“Given the implosion of Afghanistan, I also call on America to declassify its findings on Nigerians captured amongst Alqaeda’s foreign fighters there 20 years ago.
“A couple of years ago, Nigeria’s former President Obasanjo informed me that he was never given intelligence about Nigerians fighting for Bin Laden. This failure is a proximate cause of the establishment of “The Nigerian Taliban” which later became known as Boko Haram and evolved to the world’s deadliest terrorists.”
According to the statement by Ogebe, “now that formerly exiled and imprisoned Taliban operatives have returned to power and terrorism resumed, it is all the more important now that their Nigerian accomplices are identified and that those involved in protecting them are exposed. The images from Afghanistan were unsettling but the ones from Nigeria which the world isn’t seeing are deeply disturbing.”