Reports say the United States of America has commenced to assist Nigeria in its efforts to stop the deadly Boko Haram menace.
In an interview, the United States ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle, disclosed in that the United States is ready to ship weapons to Nigeria.
He also stated that the United States government never put arms embargo on the country.
“There’s been a lot of misunderstanding on this issue before, during and after President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to Washington. Let me be clear about a couple of things. One, we had worked very closely with Nigeria on the Leahy Amendment….The second piece of misinformation, which has been bandied about in (newspapers’) headlines, is that the United States has lifted its arms embargo on Nigeria. There was never an arms embargo,” he clarified.
On its part, the United States Defence Security Cooperation Agency records show stated that the country’s department of defence is set to transport army material to Nigeria, Radio France Internationale reports.
The radio stated that a DSCA list of “so-called Excess Defence Articles” slated for Nigeria specified that the United States military was about to transfer Caiman trucks, armoured vehicles designed “to defeat current and emerging threats.”
It added that the United States government was also transporting armoured vehicles known as MaxxPro MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected), made by Navistar Defence, an Illinois company, and Israeli-based Plasan Sasa.
It is unknown which Nigerian army units will get the equipment, but the report stated that the United States government had confirmed that deliveries were pending.
Speaking on the development, the spokesman for the United States state department, Noel Clay, said: “The United States is set to expand its efforts to provide bilateral security assistance to Nigeria to counter Boko Haram. We will refer you to the Nigerian MoD to confirm the arrival of any US-origin material, but we can say that a key component of our security assistance to Nigeria in recent years has been training on the importance of respect for human rights and professional military conduct.
“Impunity for human rights violations by security forces not only tarnishes Nigeria's reputation, but cannot prohibit us from engaging with involved units. We will not stop to work with the Nigerian military to ensure they conduct disciplined military operations in accordance with clear rules of engagement and international law; treat all detainees humanely; allow access for independent monitors to all detention facilities; and hold accountable the perpetrators of unlawful violence.”
Recall, President Muhammadu Buhari during his four day USA state visit reportedly accused America of assisting Boko Haram because of its denial to let Nigeria have access to the much needed army arsenal to fight and quell the six-year insurgency.
There have been reports that the United States had placed embargo on sales of arms to Nigeria and that it had prevented the oil rich nation from obtaining arms to prosecute a counter terrorism operation.