UN committee imposes sanctions on Nigeria's Boko Haram

The UN Security Council has approved sanctions against the Nigerian militant group Boko Haram, five weeks after it
kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls.


It will now be added to a list of al-Qaeda-linked organisations subject to an arms embargo and asset freeze.
US envoy Samantha Power said it was an "important step" in support of efforts to "defeat Boko Haram and hold its murderous leadership accountable".

Analysts say it is hard to say what practical effect the move will have. Boko Haram was earlier blamed for the deaths of 27 people
in a north-eastern village.

Residents said gunmen had shot dead farm workers in Chikongudo, set fire to nearly all the homes there and stolen food in an attack on Wednesday night.  The assailants
stormed the village in cars and motorbikes, a trademark of Boko Haram, the residents added.

It came a day after twin bombings killed 122 in the central city of Jos. The authorities suspect Boko Haram of being behind them, but there has so far been no claim of
responsibility from the group.