The claim by United States of America (USA) Congressman, Scott Perry that United States Aid for International Development (USAID) under former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden funded terrorist organisations like Boko Haram, ISIS and Al-Qaeda, among others, has stirred the hornet’s nest and reinvigorated the calls by Nigerians for the federal government to uncover the funding sources that has helped Boko Haram and other terrorist groups to sustain their operations in the country in the last 15 years.
Perry, a Republican lawmaker representing Pennsylvania, had made his claim at the inaugural hearing of the Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency after President Donald Trump shut down USAID, accusing it of massive corruption, during a session on “The War on Waste: Stamping Out the Scourge of Improper Payments and Fraud.”
Expectedly, most Nigerian are demanding a probe of the US Congressman’s claim, especially as it seems to substantiate the views of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa, who had repeatedly pointed to external influence in sustaining terrorist operations across the country.
On an number of occasions, General Musa had expressed concern over the activities of foreign entities in conflict zones, particularly in the North-East, accusing them of indirectly supporting terrorist groups through financial aid and training.
General Musa revealed that numerous Boko Haram militants, who had surrendered or captured, were found in possession of foreign currencies, raising questions about their funding sources.
The CDS also raised alarm over the questionable activities of some international NGOs which pre-paid up to ten years’ worth of rent for properties in regions affected by insurgency, as though they had foreseen the persistence of terrorism for an extended period.
Expectedly, federal lawmakers have indicated their resolve to investigate the matter and have already summoned Nigeria’s intelligence and security chief to the National Assembly to brief them on it.
Already, the United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Richard Mills, has dismissed Congressman Perry’s claim, saying there is no evidence to back up the allegation.
He stated that no country condemns Boko Haram’s violence more strongly than the United States, assuring that if any evidence is found, the US government will work with the Nigerian government to investigate it.
He noted that his country had designated Boko Haram as a foreign terrorist organisation since 2013, blocking the group from transferring assets to the US and allowing that country to arrest and seize its members’ assets.
The US Mission to Nigeria has also announced an investigation into how past aid allocated to Nigeria and other countries has been utilised.
The U.S. government reaffirmed its commitment to working with Nigeria and regional partners to combat terrorism and enhance security in West Africa.
Now that the National Assembly has started an investigation into the whole matter, we expect them to go the whole hog and come up with something tangible that will turn the tide against the terrorists. It should also conduct an open and transparent enquiry. We say this with hindsight of what happened in the previous administration when in March 2022, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) punished six Nigerians for being members of the Boko Haram network in the UAE. Salihu Yusuf Adamu and Surajo Abubakar Muhammad were sentenced to life imprisonment for violations of UAE anti-terrorism laws; Abdurrahman Ado Musa, Bashir Ali Yusuf, Muhammed Ibrahim Isa, and Ibrahim Ali Alhassan were sentenced to 10 years in prison, followed by deportation. All six were found guilty of establishing a Boko Haram cell in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to raise funds for and provide material assistance to Boko Haram insurgents in Nigeria
The UAE was said to have made available a list of other suspects within Nigeria to government authorities but till this day, the identities of those terror financiers were never made public, nor were they prosecuted to the knowledge of the public.
As part of their investigation, the federal lawmakers must demand and obtain the UAE list from officials of the previous administration and ensure those on it are duly prosecuted like their counterparts in the UAE.
Not just USAID, the government must also put the activities of other international NGOs and their local counterparts under the microscope. Many of them could serve as cover for espionage rings that could be deleterious to Nigeria’s interests.
We agree with General Musa that terrorist groups’ financial backing is central to their survival, and cutting off these resources would inevitably lead to their collapse. As such, a more proactive and coordinated approach to tackling Nigeria’s security issues, which includes better financial intelligence and strengthened international cooperation, is of the utmost importance.
To dismantle these financial networks effectively, Nigeria and the international community must unite to trace and halt the flow of funds to terrorist organisations.
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