The United States had yesterday promised to assist Nigeria towards fighting the bring the Boko Haram insurgence to a halt. The US had said that Nigeria cannot rely on military might alone. A US official in company of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton disclosed this after holding a closed-door meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan at the Presidential villa couple of weeks ago.
Clinton who was accompanied by officials of the U. S. Embassy in Nigeria was welcome into the country by the Foreign Minister, Amb. Olugbenga Ashiru.in another security meeting, Clinton met with Security Chiefs including all the Service Chiefs, the National Security Adviser, retired Col. Sambo Dasuki and the Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Muhammad Abubakar.
According to a senior US official in company of Clinton, Boko Haram had inflicted much pain on Nigeria, that the United States feels concern about the state of things in the country and had offered to help Nigeria out its present challenge of the Boko Haram insurgence. The US official spoke on the best strategies thus;
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“Northern Nigeria also borders Chad, Cameroon, Niger and we are concerned this radicalism could undermine the security of neighbouring states. A security strategy is not enough. We know all too well from our own experiences in both Iraq and Afghanistan what can happen if soldiers and police are not operating under appropriate authorities”, the senior U.S. official said.
“We will encourage them not to use excessive force and to look at this as a law enforcement operation designed to catch perpetrators and bring them to justice,” he added.
Clinton’s visit to Nigeria is part her 11-day, nine-nation African tour. She had urged President Goodluck Jonathan to boost the country’s intelligence capabilities to better combat growing terrorists.
She had advised that Nigeria should form an intelligence body to include the military, spy services, police and other federal, state and local agencies. The cell would also coordinate counter-terrorism activities and serve as a contact for foreign intelligence services, confirms the State’s Department official.
The officials had confirmed that the US was ready to offer any kind of assistance to the Nigerian security formation, through the supply of training and equipment, including computers, and would present some of the supports to President Jonathan and his new National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, believing that they will deliver Nigeria and African from terrorism
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