The ‪US State Department Has Formally Designated Boko Haram As A Foreign Terrorist Organization

The US State Department has formally designated the Nigerian militant group Boko Haram as a “foreign terrorist organization” on Wednesday, congressional sources and others briefed on the matter said. The designation is significant because it directs U.S. law enforcement and regulatory agencies to block business and financial transactions with Boko Haram, which wants to impose Islamic law in northern Nigeria and has ties to al Qaeda.

MT @StateAfrica: The @StateDept has announced the designation of Boko Haram and Ansaru as Foreign Terrorist Organizations
— U.S. Mission Nigeria (@USEmbassyAbuja) November 13, 2013

Owner of Abuja’s Wonderland Amusement Park, Amigo Supermarket linked to Terrorism Act

Nigerian security agencies have linked a co-owner of two major ongoing businesses in the nation’s capital as a ringleader in a major terrorist operation in the country.

In a statement by the spokesman of the Joint Task Force in Kano, Ikedichi Iweha, Fauzi Fawad, the co-owner of Amigo Supermarket and Wonderland Amusement Park, was named as a member of a Lebanese Hezbollah terrorist cell in Nigeria.

Wonderland is Abuja’s biggest and most popular amusement park, while Amigo is one of the largest supermarkets in the Nigerian capital.

The JTF said Mr. Fawad’s name was mentioned by “all those arrested,” for being in possession of heavy weapons, and other terrorism related activities.

Mr. Fawad is now on the run, the JTF said. It arrested three Lebanese suspected of owning the large cache of arms recovered at a bunker in the city. More after the cut: