The U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle,
has debunked media reports that America was not
doing enough in helping Nigeria to contain terrorism
in the country.
Entwistle debunked the notion on Thursday at a
news conference in Yola.
He said the U.S. Government was heavily involved
in supporting Nigerian Government’s response to
Boko Haram menace.
“I disagree completely with these headlines; they
are quite inadequate. Our two countries have strong
military relationship.
“Over the years, we share a lot of equipment; some
of the newest vessels of your navy come from
United States, so the idea that U.S. doesn’t support
Nigeria is not true,” the envoy said.
He said the support to Nigeria was in many forms,
including training of soldiers and information
sharing.
On his perception of Boko Haram, the ambassador
said he was not sure of the group’s objectives.
“There are still some open questions on who they
are, what they want.
“A year ago, I would have said they were religiously
motivated. But as they killed more and more
Muslims, it’s hard for me to believe that they were
motivated by religion.
“Who are these guys and what do they want? I
don’t think we really understand them, ” Entwistle
said.
He observed that Boko Haram had gone beyond
being a small insurgent group, with a couple of
guns, to very effective collection of conventional
force.
“An open question we have to look at carefully is
where is the military expertise ( for Boko Haram) is
coming from. How in the last one year they became
more effective?”
The envoy, who was in Adamawa to monitor the
suspended Oct. 11 governorship by-election, held
talks with Adamawa Interfaith Committee, an NGO.
He also visited the American University of Nigeria
(AUN), Yola, where he delivered a lecture to staff
and students of the institution. (NAN)
Source: vanguardngr.com
No comments:
Post a Comment