Boko Haram is still holding territory in Northern Nigeria, commander of
the US Africa Command (USAFRICOM), General David Rodriguez, has said.
General Rodriguez’s claim challenges Nigeria’s official position on the
seven-year old insurgency that has so far claimed about 20,000 lives and
displaced 2.5 million people.
Rodriguez’s assertion comes almost two months after President Muhammadu
Buhari told the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki Moon,
that the terrorist group was no longer “holding any territory as we
speak.”
Buhari, who was speaking on the sidelines of the World Future Energy
Summit in the UAE, said Nigerian Armed Forces in collaboration with the
Multinational Joint Task Force (MNTJF) had driven the terrorist group from
Nigerian territory into “fall-back positions.”
According to an online news portal, Premium Times, Rodriguez spoke on
Tuesday in response to a question during testimony before the US Senate
Armed Services Committee reviewing fiscal year 2017 defence budget.
His comment about Boko Haram was in response to a question by Senator
Angus King of Maine who asked about Al-Shabaab and Boko Haram more than 90
minutes into the testimony.
Angus’ direct question to General Rodriguez was: “Is Al-Shabaab and Boko
Haram growing, are they adding members? I know they don’t hold territory,
are they adding areas of influence?” to which Rodriguez replied, “actually
sir, Boko Haram does hold some significant territory in Northern Nigeria
as do Al-Shabaab in limited areas of Somalia.”
He added that recently there is a “tactical upswing” in Al-Shabaab’s
operations in Somali but did not elaborate on Boko Haram’s operations,
adding in his written testimony to the Senate Committee that containing
and degrading the ISIL-affiliated Boko Haram remains one of AFRICOM’s top
priority.
“We are watching carefully for signs that the threat posed by Boko Haram
to US persons is growing as a result of the group’s alignment with ISIL,”
Rodriguez said.
He praised MNJTF allies and partners such as the African Union, France,
the United Kingdom, the European Union, and the Department of State for
engaging in the counter-Boko Haram effort.
“Our engagement now can assist our African partners in realizing their
potential and gaining the capability to solve African problems,” Rodriguez
said. “African solutions to African problems are, in the long run, in the
best interest of Africans, Americans, and indeed the world.”
Rodriguez, a four-star general, became the third commander of AFRICOM in
April 2013. US Africa Command is one of six unified geographic combatant
commands within the United States Department of Defence unified command
structure.
He appeared before the Senate committee with Generals Lloyd Austin of US
Central Command and Joseph Votel of US Special Operations Command.
General Rodriguez’s testimony came couple weeks after the Subcommittee on
Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade at the US Congress also convened
hearings where two policy experts urged the US government to ramp up the
push against Boko Haram.
Jennifer Cooke of the Centre for International and Strategic Studies
(CSIS) and Alice Friend of the Centre for New American Security (CNAS),
urged lawmakers to acknowledge and support real advances against Boko
Haram that have degraded the group and weakened its leadership over the
last 18 months.