United States defence authorities yesterday claimed that they have done enough for Nigeria to curb terrorism in the country.
According to US security expert in Washington, Rear Admiral John Kirby, the country’s defence policy does not allow the Barack Obama administration to “do more than it is doing right now for Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram insurgency.”
Agency report yesterday, also quoted the White House as saying that the deployment and American military operations in Nigeria were “in furtherance of US national security and foreign policy interests.”
Admiral Kirby said: “We’re talking about an area roughly the size of West Virginia and its dense forest jungle.” Nigerian Pilot gathered that despite the need for intelligence to combat Boko Haram, the US was not ready for complete information-sharing for fear that the Nigerian military would misuse them-such as by conducting botched rescue operations.
The US Embassy in Abuja had on Monday said that the Federal Government had asked Washington to stop training a battalion of the Nigerian Army.
The statement stated further that the Americans “regret the termination of this training” to help Nigeria’s army fight an Islamic uprising.
It was however observed that Washington has been reluctant to organize a rescue for political, practical, logistical and organizational reasons.
Last June, a group of American female senators in a private dinner with Secretary of State, John Kerry, pushed for more action against Boko Haram, including possibly sending a team of Special Forces to locate and rescue the girls.
An online news medium quoted a Briton and manager of IHS Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Centre, Matthew Henman, as saying that: “Nigerian military was badly led, demoralised and riddled with accusations of corruption. The past year or 18 months has been pretty terrible for the Nigerian military, with concerted military operations only exacerbating insurgent violence in the northeast. What we have seen in the past four or five months is that they have been expanding their campaign to seize control of territory, while the Nigerian military has been unable to resist or push them back.”
He said the Nigerian military desperately needed building up. “What they really need is capacity building, because currently the Nigerian military is almost thoroughly outclassed by the militants in terms of arms, morale, and training. There’s a fundamental lack of capacity and leadership in the officer class to wage effective operations, although the claimed recent recapture of Mubi, capital of Adamawa State, from Boko Haram seemingly represents a much-needed success.”
Recall that the National Security Adviser, NSA to President Goodluck Jonathan, Col. Dasuki, during a policy dialogue with top level diplomats at the United Nations in New York, thanked the governments of Australia, United Kingdom and the European Union for their support for Nigeria in the war against terrorism.
The NSA left out the US in the remark in what security experts called “deliberate” leaving the public to debate whether a cold war was brewing between the two countries.
Source: Nigerian Pilot
According to US security expert in Washington, Rear Admiral John Kirby, the country’s defence policy does not allow the Barack Obama administration to “do more than it is doing right now for Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram insurgency.”
Agency report yesterday, also quoted the White House as saying that the deployment and American military operations in Nigeria were “in furtherance of US national security and foreign policy interests.”
Admiral Kirby said: “We’re talking about an area roughly the size of West Virginia and its dense forest jungle.” Nigerian Pilot gathered that despite the need for intelligence to combat Boko Haram, the US was not ready for complete information-sharing for fear that the Nigerian military would misuse them-such as by conducting botched rescue operations.
The US Embassy in Abuja had on Monday said that the Federal Government had asked Washington to stop training a battalion of the Nigerian Army.
The statement stated further that the Americans “regret the termination of this training” to help Nigeria’s army fight an Islamic uprising.
It was however observed that Washington has been reluctant to organize a rescue for political, practical, logistical and organizational reasons.
Last June, a group of American female senators in a private dinner with Secretary of State, John Kerry, pushed for more action against Boko Haram, including possibly sending a team of Special Forces to locate and rescue the girls.
An online news medium quoted a Briton and manager of IHS Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Centre, Matthew Henman, as saying that: “Nigerian military was badly led, demoralised and riddled with accusations of corruption. The past year or 18 months has been pretty terrible for the Nigerian military, with concerted military operations only exacerbating insurgent violence in the northeast. What we have seen in the past four or five months is that they have been expanding their campaign to seize control of territory, while the Nigerian military has been unable to resist or push them back.”
He said the Nigerian military desperately needed building up. “What they really need is capacity building, because currently the Nigerian military is almost thoroughly outclassed by the militants in terms of arms, morale, and training. There’s a fundamental lack of capacity and leadership in the officer class to wage effective operations, although the claimed recent recapture of Mubi, capital of Adamawa State, from Boko Haram seemingly represents a much-needed success.”
Recall that the National Security Adviser, NSA to President Goodluck Jonathan, Col. Dasuki, during a policy dialogue with top level diplomats at the United Nations in New York, thanked the governments of Australia, United Kingdom and the European Union for their support for Nigeria in the war against terrorism.
The NSA left out the US in the remark in what security experts called “deliberate” leaving the public to debate whether a cold war was brewing between the two countries.
Source: Nigerian Pilot
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