Thursday, November 13, 2014

NIGERIA'S OFFICIAL STATEMENT ON USA'S (NON)SUPPORT ON BOKO HARAM

 Extracts from Ambassador Ade Adefuye's presentation (10th November, 2014) on America's refusal to cooperate with Nigeria on Boko Haram.  (See full statement on Nigeria's official website here: http://www.nigeriaembassyusa.org/index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=357&cntnt01origid=15&cntnt01detailtemplate=nigeriadet&cntnt01returnid=108

11.   Ladies and Gentlemen of the Council on Foreign Relations, I am sad to inform you that the Nigerian leadership: Military and Political, and even the general populace, are not satisfied with the scope, nature and content of the United States’ support for us in our struggle against terrorists. We find it difficult to understand how and why in spite of the U.S. presence in Nigeria with their sophisticated military technology. Boko Haram should be expanding and becoming more deadly. At first, we had problems with the manner in which intelligence was being shared. The U.S. Government claims that the problem has been addressed, but it is still there. The U.S. Government has up till today refused to grant Nigeria’s request to purchase lethal equipment that would have brought down the terrorists within a short time on the basis of the allegations that Nigeria’s defence forces have been violating human rights of Boko Haram suspects when captured or arrested. This is based largely on reports submitted by human rights groups and sections of the Nigerian media that have sympathy for the opposition parties and are prepared to use whatever means possible to embarrass the government of President Goodluck Jonathan. The Americans claim that Leahy law forbids the sale of lethal equipment to governments that violate human rights.


13.  I say with all sense of responsibility that allegations of human right violation are based on rumours, hear-says and exaggerated accounts of clashes between the Nigerian forces and Boko Haram fighters. There was a case of an incident in Baga in 2013 when human rights groups and the opposition press said that, based on pictures taken from satellite, over one thousand six hundred houses were destroyed in a village that has less than 600 houses.

14.  There have been video reports of human rights violations involving attacks on women and children purported to have been carried out by Nigerian soldiers in Boko Haram affected areas. We pointed out to our American friends that those activities were carried out by Boko Haram members wearing stolen Nigerian army uniforms. Disguise and subterfuge are standard practices of insurgent groups. The Chibok abduction of our school girls by Boko Haram succeeded because the girls thought that they were being carried to safety by soldiers of the Nigerian army.


Read the entire statement here:


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