The United States government may withdraw its military assistance to Nigeria, citing human rights violations by its security agencies, especially the military which is in the eye of the controversy over the recent Baga massacre.
A gun battle between the Nigerian military and members of the Boko Haram Islamist sect about two weeks ago in the town of Baga, Borno State had led to the killing of about 187 people, mostly civilians and the destruction of hundreds of houses.
The position of the American government is said to have been made known by its Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Terence P McCulley in a private meeting with about 10 members of the Nigerian human rights community in Abuja yesterday.
The US supports the Nigerian military and security agencies with training, intelligence and weapons.
The Human Rights Watch (HRW), had in a report released in Johannesburg, South Africa, said its investigations into the fighting in Baga showed that 183 people were killed, contradicting claims by the military, which also investigated the incident and had maintained that 36 persons and a soldier died in the clash.
Citing a community leader as its source, the HRW also said its analysis of satellite images of Baga, before and after the clash, showed that 2,275 buildings, majority of which were likely residences, were razed by fire, with another 125 severely damaged.
It was gathered from a source at the meeting, who opted to remain anonymous, that the Ambassador called the meeting to feel the pulse of the human rights community over the violations of basic rights of citizens by security forces under the President Goodluck Jonathan-led administration.
The ambassador was said to have announced to the activists that it was American policy based on a law passed by the US Congress not to render military assistance to any government that violates basic rights of citizens.
He added that based on this, the President Barack Obama-led government has, therefore, ceased to assist Nigeria militarily in obedience to the law.
Some of the activists at the meeting were said to include Mr Clement Nwankwo, Mr Emmanuel Onwubiko of the Human Rights Writers’ Association of Nigeria; KoleShettima of the MacArthur Foundation and Auwal Rafsanjani of the Executive Director at Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), amongst others.
Efforts to confirm the story from Nigerian government and the US embassy as of press time were not successful.
However, a tweet from @USEmbassyAbuja denied the story, but stressed the importance of security forces’ respect for human rights.
Meanwhile, the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) in Abuja has supported the report of the Defence Headquarters, blaming the catastrophes on Baga town on Boko Haram sect.
This was contained in a press statement signed by the spokesman of the NSA, MrKarounwiAdekunle and made available on Thursday in Kano.
The statement insisted that the attack on Baga town was perpetrated by the Boko Haram sect, as it fit their pattern.
“Boko Haram members are in the habit of bombing and setting houses and schools ablaze each time they suffer a loss,” the statement said.
The statement further affirmed that “the cache of arms seized and displayed by JTF clearly shows that Boko Haram carried out these heinous attacks.”