A prominent member of the British parliament, Mr. Andrew Rosindell has
\nquestioned the UK foreign secretary, Mr. William Hague, on the country\u2019s
\nengagement with Nigeria\u2019s leading opposition party, the All Progressives
\nCongress (APC), over the Boko Haram menace.<\/p>\n
This came after a debate in parliament in which Labour MP Sandra Osborne
\nsought to examine allegations of links between APC and the insurgents.<\/p>\n
The increasing questioning of the UK government by MPs on the issue may
\nforce an enquiry into the allegations.<\/p>\n
However, APC spokesman, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, told TheCable on Friday that
\nhe was not aware of any meeting between the leadership of APC and Hague.<\/p>\n
Rosindell, a conservative who represents Romford and is a member of the
\ninfluential foreign affairs committee, sent in his written questions
\n─ called \u201cnotices\u201d ─ on Tuesday, July 8.<\/p>\n
Hague is mandated to formally respond to Rosindell\u2019s questions in the
\ncoming weeks on behalf of the British government. T<\/p>\n
he questions, listed under \u201cnotices for written answer\u201d, were published on
\nthe website of the UK parliament. Rosindell\u2019s queries relating to Boko
\nHaram, as listed, are:<\/p>\n
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he
\nwill commission an inquiry into the international support network for Boko
\nHaram in Nigeria and Cameroon; and if he will make a statement. (Notice
\nno. 204402)<\/p>\n
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what
\ndiscussions (a) he and (b) other Ministers in his Department have had with
\nleading members of the Nigerian opposition party, the All Progressive
\nCongress; and if he will make a statement. (204401)<\/p>\n
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what
\nassessment he has made of the rise in Islamic terrorism in Nigeria.
\n(204387) To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth
\nAffairs, what support his Department plans to offer to Nigeria in tackling
\nthe threat of Boko Haram. (204388)<\/p>\n
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what
\nassessment he has made of links between Boko Haram and other Islamic
\nextremist groups in Africa. (204389)<\/p>\n
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he
\nwill discuss with his counterpart in Cameroon the need for constructive
\ndialogue between that country and Nigeria in tackling Boko Haram; and if
\nhe will make a statement. (204390)<\/p>\n
Also at a recent meeting in parliament, led by Henry Jackson Society and<\/p>\n
chaired by an MP, John Glen, who is a close adviser to Prime Minister
\nDavid Cameron, similar allegations were raised that key APC members are
\nsupporters and financiers of Boko Haram \u201cfor ideological and political
\nmeans\u201d.<\/p>\n
The UK is now showing more than a passing interest in the Boko Haram
\nthreat after the kidnap of hundreds of schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno State,
\nin April. Hague, at an international summit on rape in warzones held in
\nLondon in June, reaffirmed the UK\u2019s \u201cstrong and united commitment to
\ndefeat Boko Haram [and] to end the scourge of terrorism in Nigeria\u201d.<\/p>\n
President Goodluck Jonathan recently launched the Safe School Initiative
\nwith the support of the British government. Although Jonathan has not
\ndirectly accused APC of having links with Boko Haram, the Peoples
\nDemocratic Party (PDP) to which he belongs has constantly tied the
\nopposition to the insurgents.<\/p>\n
Recently, an APC member, Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode, defected to the PDP,
\naccusing some top members of the opposition party of having sympathy for
\nBoko Haram.<\/p>\n
APC has consistently denied these allegations and accused the presidency
\nand PDP of playing politics with national security.<\/p>\n
TheCable<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A prominent member of the British parliament, Mr. Andrew Rosindell has questioned the UK foreign secretary, Mr. William Hague, on the country\u2019s engagement with Nigeria\u2019s leading opposition party, the All…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29091,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n