Hundreds of millions of pounds of British foreign aid given to Nigeria to
\nhelp combat Boko Haram terrorists is instead being used to fund a
\nwitch-hunt against opposition politicians, it is being claimed, according
\nto The Telegraph, a U.K based Newspaper.<\/p>\n
Britain has committed to spending \u00a3860 million in foreign aid to Nigeria,
\nwhich now boasts Africa\u2019s largest economy, to help support the country\u2019s
\nefforts to crush Boko Haram terror group, which has been responsible for a
\nspate of outrages, including the kidnapping of hundreds of Nigerian
\nschoolgirls.<\/p>\n
But Western officials are now raising concerns that the government of the
\ncountry\u2019s recently elected leader, President Muhammadu Buhari, is misusing
\nthe funds to persecute political opponents.<\/p>\n
Since Mr Buhari came to power last July, a number of prominent members of
\nthe former ruling People\u2019s Democratic Party (PDP) have been arrested and
\nimprisoned without charge. Among those detained was the party\u2019s official
\nspokesperson.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Nigeria: a nation in fear of becoming the next Rwanda<\/p>\n
Most of the arrests have been sanctioned by the government-controlled
\nEconomic and Financial Crime Commission, which was set up to tackle
\ncorruption and receives funding from the Department for International
\nDevelopment.<\/p>\n
But while Mr Buhari\u2019s government continues to use British aid money to
\ntarget his political opponents, it is proving less effective at tackling
\nthe Islamist-run Boko Haram terrorist group.<\/p>\n
Much of the aid Britain provides to Nigeria is aimed at helping the
\ncountry\u2019s security forces to become more effective at tackling Boko Haram,
\nwhich boasts of its links with Islamic State (Isil) and achieved
\ninternational notoriety two years ago after kidnapping 276 schoolgirls in
\nnorthern Nigeria two years ago.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Boko Haram demands ‘$50m ransom’ for release of kidnapped Chibok
\nschoolgirls<\/p>\n
Scores of British military personnel \u2013 including members of the Special
\nForces \u2013 are based in Nigeria helping to train the military to tackle Boko
\nHaram. But despite Mr Buhari\u2019s pledge during last year\u2019s general election
\ncampaign that he would make tackling Boko Haram one of his top priorities,
\nthere is growing concern among Western officials that the Nigerian
\nmilitary is failing to take effective action against the terrorists.<\/p>\n
This has resulted in Boko Haram now being regarded as the world\u2019s
\ndeadliest terrorist organisation, responsible for more deaths than Isil.
\nThere are now reports that the group is trying to train kidnapped children
\nto act as suicide bombers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a scandal in the making,” explained a senior U.S. official.
\n“There is no doubt the growing strength of Boko Haram is because President
\nBuhari is far more interested in settling scores with his political
\nopponents that concentrating his energy on defeating terrorists,\u201d \u201cThe
\nresult is that Nigeria is starting to look more and more like a police
\nstate while Boko Haram just goes from strength to strength.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022 The Boko Haram suicide bomber who survived her deadly mission<\/p>\n
Another Western diplomat added: \u201cIf Buhari was serious about fighting
\ncorruption he would be focusing all of his efforts on targeting corruption
\nthat is impeding Nigeria\u2019s ability to focus its efforts on tackling Boko
\nHaram.\u201d<\/p>\n
Accusations that Nigeria is abusing British aid will add to the growing
\ncontroversy over Downing Street\u2019s commitment to spend 0.7 percent of GDP
\non the foreign aid budget. Last week the Telegraph reported that DFID was
\nunder pressure to cancel \u00a3200 million of foreign aid to Tanzania following
\nconcerns over a widely condemned election.<\/p>\n
This resulted in Dr Liam Fox, the former Defence Secretary, accusing the
\ngovernment of \u201cspraying money around\u201d simply to achieve the 0.7 per cent
\ntarget.<\/p>\n
Western officials have expressed concern about Mr Buhari\u2019s increasingly
\nautocratic style of government since he came to power last year. A retired
\nmajor-general, Mr Buhari, 73, previously headed a brutal military
\ndictatorship following a coup in December 1983, which lasted until he was
\noverthrown by another coup in 1985.<\/p>\n
Now political opponents claim he is returning to his old dictatorial ways,
\nabusing British aid meant to improve Nigeria\u2019s ability to tackle Boko
\nHaram to consolidate his hold on power.<\/p>\n
Apart from the concerns over British aid, American officials are also
\nangry that $2.1 billion of aid given to the Nigerian military to tackle
\nBoko Haram has not been properly accounted for.<\/p>\n
Mr Buhari\u2019s claim that he is winning the war against Boko Haram – recently
\nclaimed the group no longer poses a serious threat – has been undermined
\nby recent revelations the Nigerian authorities have tried to cover up the
\nfact that hundreds more schoolchildren have been abducted by Boko Haram.<\/p>\n
Human rights activists have no confirmed that around 400 women and
\nchildren were abducted last year by militants from the Nigerian town of
\nDamasak.<\/p>\n
It is now believed that some of these children may have been trained as
\nsuicide bombers. U.S. counter-terrorism experts say at least 105 women and
\ngirls trained by Boko Haram have taken part in suicide attacks since June
\n2014.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hundreds of millions of pounds of British foreign aid given to Nigeria to help combat Boko Haram terrorists is instead being used to fund a witch-hunt against opposition politicians, it…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":46879,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n