The United States government has said it was doing its best to help Nigeria win the war against Boko Haram.
In a question and answer session on Facebook on Friday, July 31, US Ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle said the US government under President Barack Obama was sharing intelligence information with the Nigerian government in the fight against terrorism, Punch reports.
Entwistle said: “No partner is doing more to help you against Boko Haram than the United States. We hope to train more of your troops; we are glad to discuss weapons transfers and we engage in significant information sharing, which I cannot discuss in detail in this setting.
“We also are doing everything we can to support the population of internally displaced Nigerians from the north-east and to help Nigeria create conditions that will prevent something like the scourge of Boko Haram from ever happening again in Nigeria.
“The US has for years had a beneficial working relationship with the Nigerian military, especially in the counter-terrorism struggle against Boko Haram. Now more than ever, we are committed to assisting our Nigerian partners as appropriate. That involves training, sharing of information and, in some cases, helping the Nigerian military with its equipment needs.
“The Leahy amendment requires that for all countries, we cannot train known human rights abusers or that our equipment not be used in depredations against civilian populations.”
According to the ambassador, paying attention to human rights would make for a stronger counter-terrorism effort since it allowed the military to keep civilian populations on their side in the midst of the incredibly difficult task of fighting terrorists.
Recall that President Buhari held talks with his American counterpart on terrorismabout two weeks ago.
Obama had described Buhari as a “man of integrity”, stressing the importance of keeping Nigeria united, because a divided country can never succeed.
No comments:
Post a Comment