The United States of America has said it will work with President
Muhammadu Buhari to stop the menace of Boko Haram in Nigeria and its
neighbouring countries.
Erstwhile President Goodluck Jonathan had
complained during his tenure about the unwillingness of the American
government to assist Nigeria in prosecuting the war against the
terrorist group, especially in selling weapons to the country.
But
Washington said it would work with Buhari to likely increase the US’
level of support though it did not say whether that would include sales
of lethal weapons earlier requested for by the Federal Government.
The US
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of African Affairs, Linda
Thomas-Greenfield, during a telephone press briefing on Monday, held in
South Africa at the 25th African Union Summit, and monitored by our
correspondent in Lagos, stated that Washington was committed to ensuring
that Nigeria wins its battle against the terrorist group.“Fighting
terrorism is not easy.
Since 2001 we have been fighting terrorism and we
will continue to fight terrorists. Fighting in Africa requires support
of the entire region,” Thomas-Greenfield said.
The US government added
that the Boko Haram insurgency was not a Nigerianproblem alone.
According to its representative, the US is working closely with
Nigeria’s neighbours to curtail the activities of the terrorist
group.
She added that the US was committing $5 million to Nigeria’s
efforts at defeating Boko Haram and that Nigeria had been receiving
equipmentand technical assistance from the US.
Contrary to President
Buhari’s statement on Sunday at the AU Summit, the US assistant
secretary, Bureau of African Affairs, said Africa was not under siege,
though she admitted the continent was facing “really horrific attacks in
recent times.”“I’ll not say Africa is under siege. I’ll say Africa is
facing some challenging security situations,” she said.
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