NIGERIA has discontinued training of its soldiers in the United States in retaliation to Washington’s unwillingness to sell the country military equipment to the Nigeria military. The situation was further exacerbated by the US’s lukewarm and indifferent attitude towards the Nigeria’s fight against Boko Haram insurgency.
Nigerian government officials, over recent months, have become increasingly frustrated with the refusal of the US to supply its military with arms and equipment to prosecute the war on terror against Boko Haram. Washington has long used the excuse that Nigeria’s armed forces commit atrocities but this has not stopped the US from selling arms to other countries like Israel, who commit worse crimes against the Palestinians.
Last month, the Nigerian envoy to the US, Ambassador Adebowale Adefuye led the criticism of Washington’s policy and over the last week, the likes of General Yakubu Gowon joined the critics. Finally exasperated with Washington’s intransigence, Nigeria has now decided to stop sending its military officers to the US for training.
A US embassy spokesperson in Abuja said: “At the request of the Nigerian government, the United States will discontinue its training of a Nigerian Army battalion. Two initial phases of training had already been completed between April and August this year which provided previously untrained civilian personnel with basic soldiering skills.
“A third session had been planned with the intent of developing the battalion into a unit with advanced infantry skills. We regret premature termination of this training, as it was to be the first in a larger planned project that would have trained additional units with the goal of helping the Nigerian Army build capacity to counter Boko Haram.”
The US government was one of several foreign powers who offered intelligence and surveillance assistance to Nigeria when Boko Haram abducted over 200 Nigerian schoolgirls in April 2014. With the schoolgirls nowhere near being found and Boko Haram violence escalating and intensifying, diplomatic ties between the two countries have been less cordial.
Washington’s State Department has said there were ongoing concerns about the Nigerian military’s human rights record and its ability to protect civilians during operations. It also said it could not sell Nigeria Cobra helicopters because of concerns about the maintenance of the aircraft.
