The United States, U.S, government has reiterated its commitment to providing support for Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram and the rescue of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls.
The US Assistant Secretary of state for African affairs, Linda Thomas-Greenfield and the commander of US Africa command, USAAFRICOM, David Rodriguez disclosed this yesterday at a joint online press conference.
The Assistant Secretary noted that Washington will engage President Muhammadu Buhari on the issue when the Nigerian president visits White House later in the month.
According to her, “We will have discussions with him on what we can do to continue to assist Nigeria and their effort to fight against Boko Haram.
“Part of that discussion will be how we can provide the equipment and support that Nigerians require. We will have discussion on what we can do to continue to assist Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram.
“Human rights are an important value for the United States and in any place that we are providing lethal weapons. We want to know that the militaries that we are providing those weapons to do not use that in a way that violates the human rights of ordinary civilians so we will have that discussion moving forward.”
Thomas-Greenfield added that the US government will also focus on how to prepare Nigerian military to support communities. She also said that the rescue of the abducted Chibok girls was high priority for the US government.
“This has been an extremely high priority for the US government to assist in bringing these girls home and also hundreds of other girls and young boys who were forcefully abducted by Boko Haram.
“We will not let up on our efforts; we will continue to work with the government,” she added and commended Buhari and his wife for relating with the families of the abducted Chibok girls and letting them know they have not been forgotten.
Also speaking, Rodriguez said the US has been sharing intelligence with the Nigerian government on the Chibok girls and other Boko Haram captives. He said the command supports peace-keeping efforts and strengthens the capacity of the military in Africa through partnership.
“We will continue to do that and pursue the effort of rescuing the girls,” he said. “The United States government is commitment to assisting African countries as they build their capacity to counter terrorism, which AFRICOM is key to providing such assistance.
“We continue to share intelligence with the Nigerian military in the fight against insurgency,” he stated.
