Online ReporterAmerican Congressman Scott Perry’s explosive revelation that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has been funding the terrorist group Boko Haram in Nigeria evoked what reads like a patchy response from an establishment scrambling to firefight a diplomatic crisis.
The US Mission in Nigeria took to X on February 18 to condemn Boko Haram for its “blatant disregard for human life”, while assuring the West African country that “comprehensive monitoring and evaluation systems are in place to help verify that US assistance reaches intended recipients”.
The prelude to this statement was a US House Subcommittee hearing, where the Pennsylvania Republican highlighted USAID’s operational history and labelled it a “taxpayer-funded slush fund for embezzlement and globalist excesses”.
Perry’s allegations have touched a raw nerve in Nigeria, where Boko Haram has killed over 50 000 people and forced 2.5 million to flee, with many forced to seek refuge in Niger, Chad, and Cameroon.
The Nigerian Senate has moved swiftly to deal with the “weighty and worrisome” problem of alleged USAID funding of terrorist activity within the country. It announced plans last week to summon the country’s security chiefs, including the National Security Adviser, for a high-level session.
Senator Ali Ndume from Nigeria’s northeastern region, where Boko Haram has been perpetrating atrocities since 2009, pressed for a thorough investigation. He linked Perry’s accusations to long-standing suspicions about international non-profits aiding terrorist outfits in the region, including providing firearms training.
“[Nigerian] security agencies have raised this issue indirectly several times. The government of Borno State has always been wary of the operations of some NGOs,” Ndume said, referring to the state worst affected by the Boko Haram violence.
“We have been wondering for years—aside from raids and kidnappings— where are these terrorists getting their funds from? It’s worrisome. Now that a US Congressman has openly spoken about it, we can’t dismiss it as just an allegation.”
In a January interview with Al Jazeera, the Nigerian military chief, Gen. Christopher Musa, flagged concerns about foreign funding of Boko Haram for almost two decades.
He rued the fact that the Nigerian military’s efforts to rein in Boko Haram were being repeatedly foiled by “foreign countries helping them with money and weapons”.
Gen. Musa cited instances of Boko Haram fighters being “captured by the military while in possession of funds linked to powerful foreign nations, suggesting that international actors may be complicit in supporting the group”.
Former foreign affairs minister, Prof Bolaji Akinyemi, lent credence to the military chief’s assertions during a February 17 interview on Arise TV.
“I served on the Boko Haram committee, and villagers consistently told us about helicopters flown by foreigners that kept landing in Borno with arms, ammunition, and cash,” he said.
Prof Akinyemi, whose stint as foreign affairs minister coincided with the tail end of the Cold War, also reinforced the belief that successive Western powers worked to destabilise Nigeria, tracing the trend back to British colonial rule.
— www.trtafrika.com
