Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari returned home from a Washington visit
\nwith no agreement from the United States to sell weapons.<\/p>\n
The All Progressive Congress, APC, had castigated former President
\nGoodluck Jonathan and then ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP over their
\ninability to secure weapons from the U.S to fight Boko Haram.<\/p>\n
Buhari, during his campaign tour had promised to “wipe out Boko Haram in
\ntwo weeks if elected,” in what was seen as flaunting his military
\nbackground.<\/p>\n
The newly-inaugurated Buhari spent four days in the United States, seeking
\nweapons to help defeat the insurgent militant group Boko Haram, but
\nalthough he was greeted warmly by President Barack Obama, was rebuffed on
\nweapons sales. The United States believes such sales would contravene the
\nLeahy Law, a U.S. human rights law prohibiting the U.S. Department of
\nState and Department of Defense from providing military assistance to
\nforeign countries which violate human rights.<\/p>\n
He returned to Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, without assurances of U.S.
\nmilitary aid.
\nSpeaking to the U.S. Institute for Peace in Washington Wednesday, Buhari
\nsuggested the denial of weapons sales was helping Boko Haram.<\/p>\n
“In our efforts at combating the activities of Boko Haram, the new
\nGovernment has sought and obtained the support of not only our neighbors,
\nother international friends and partners. Regrettably, the blanket
\napplication of the Leahy Law by the United States on the grounds of
\nunproven allegations of human rights violations levelled against our
\nforces has denied us access to appropriate strategic weapons to prosecute
\nthe war against the insurgents. In the face of abduction of innocent
\nschool girls from their hostels, indiscriminate bombings of civilians in
\nmarkets and places of worship, our forces have remained largely impotent.
\nThis is because they do not possess the appropriate weapons and technology
\nwhich they could have had, had the so-called human rights violations not
\nbeen an obstacle. Unwittingly, and I dare say, unintentionally, the
\napplication of the Leahy law amendment by the U. S. Government has aided
\nand abated the Boko Haram terrorist group in the prosecution of its
\nextremist ideology and hate, the indiscriminate killings and maiming of
\ncivilians, in raping of women and girls, and in their other heinous
\ncrimes.”<\/p>\n
Amnesty International claims Nigeria’s military is responsible for the
\ndeaths of over 8,000 detainees, twice the number of Boko Haram’s victims.<\/p>\n
Additional Report from UPI<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari returned home from a Washington visit with no agreement from the United States to sell weapons. The All Progressive Congress, APC, had castigated former President Goodluck…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39939,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive","category-rejoinders-editorials"],"yoast_head":"\n