The United States on Thursday named three alleged leaders of the Nigerian bad boy group Boko Haram... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
as "foreign terrorists", the first time it has blacklisted members of the Islamist group blamed for attacks across Africa's most populous nation.
The State Department identified the three as Abubakar Shekau, who it called the "most visible" leader of the group, and Abubakar Adam Kambar and Khalid al-Barnawi, who it said were tied both to Boko Haram and to al Qaeda's north African wing.
"Under Shekau's leadership, Boko Haram has grabbed credit for numerous attacks in northern Nigeria, its primary area of operation. In the last 18 months, Boko Haram or associated gunnies have killed more than 1,000 people," the State Department said in an announcement.