London, May 23 (IANS): The UN Security Council has imposed sanctions against Nigerian Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which had abducted over 200 schoolgirls April 14 and has terrorised the country.
The Boko Haram will now be added to the list of Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee's list of designated entities and subjected to an arms embargo and asset freeze, the BBC reported.
A UN official said that imposing sanctions on the militant group was necessary to support the efforts to "defeat Boko Haram and hold its murderous leadership accountable".
The sanctions would shut down important avenues of funding, travel and weapons for the group.
The announcement was made by the UN a day after twin bombings killed 122 people in the central Nigerian city of Jos.
The authorities suspect the Boko Haram of being behind them, but there has so far been no claim of responsibility from the group.
The Boko Haram, under the leadership of Abubaker Shekau, abducted more than 200 girls from school dormitories in the town of Chibok. Shekau, in a video, claimed responsibility for the kidnappings and threatened to sell the girls if his demands were not met.
Ab explosion May 18 in the northern city of Kano killed four people, including a 12-year-old girl.
More than 300 people were killed by the militants May 5 in the town of Gamboru Ngala.
A car bomb May 2 claimed at least 19 lives in Nigeria's capital Abuja.
The Boko Haram, meaning "Western education is sin", has killed thousands of people in Nigeria through a wave of bombings and assassinations since 2009, and is fighting to overthrow the government, create an Islamic state and ban Western education.