![\"boko](\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/boko-haram1.jpg\")
<\/a> insight into why the Nigerian military is facing difficulty procuring arms from the United States to combat the extremist Boko Haram sect wreaking havoc in Nigeria\u2019s North East region.<\/p>\nNigerian government officials had on September 17 told PREMIUM TIMES that the administration opted for the controversial discreet purchase of arms in South Africa as a desperate measure after the American government allegedly blocked all legitimate arms order made by the military. \u200e<\/p>\n
Since then, the matter has been extensively reported in the Nigerian media, with some Nigerians accusing the Americans of undermining the country\u2019s war against terrorism.<\/p>\n
But in what is the American government\u2019s most elaborate response to the controversy so far, the American Ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle, said cases of human rights abuses by Nigerian troops in the North-East in the past years have stood out as a sore thumb as the United States considers the Nigerian military\u2019s request for arms.<\/p>\n
Mr. Entwistle spoke in Yola, the Adamawa state capital, while answering questions from journalists during a working visit to the American University of Nigeria, AUN.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore we share equipment with any country, whether it is a government to government grant or a commercial sale that requires government approval, we look at a couple of things,\u201d the ambassador explained. \u201cDoes it make sense in terms of that country\u2019s needs?<\/p>\n
The second thing we look at is the human rights situation in that country. And as we look at equipment transfers, we look at the situation in those countries in the past few years. And as you all know, there have been instances (I\u2019m not saying across the board) of human rights abuses by the Nigerian military in the North-East.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo the kind of question that we have to ask is let\u2019s say we give certain kinds of equipment to Nigerian military that is then used in a way that affects human situation. If I approve that, I\u2019m responsible for that. We take that responsibility very seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Entwistle however described as inaccurate claims that the U.S. had completely cut military aid for Nigeria, saying on the contrary, the two countries had continued to share training and equipment.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of the newest vessels in your navy came from the United States. So the idea that the United States does not share equipment with Nigeria across the board is untrue,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The ambassador promised that the United States would continue to partner and support Nigeria in the war against the Boko Haram insurgency, saying he gave President Goodluck Jonathan that assurance on his arrival to the country a few months ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had the honour of sitting down and talking to him (President Jonathan). And the first thing I said to him is \u2018Mr. President, I want to be very clear, the United States stands with Nigeria on the war on terror\u2019,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mr. Entwistle however admonished Nigeria not to think that the war against Boko Haram could be won only by buying hi-tech equipment, saying to achieve result in the campaign, the country must take the welfare of its troops even more seriously.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would say as we support the military in the struggle against Boko Haram, obviously equipment is part of the equation but I think it\u2019s more than that,\u201d the ambassador said. \u201cIt bothers me when I talk to soldiers in the North-East and they say they are in the frontline with only a few bullets.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think what\u2019s more important is the basic needs of soldiers on the field, making sure \u2026 they are well trained and they have ammunition for their rifles. If you don\u2019t focus on taking care of welfare of soldiers on the ground, buying hi-tech equipment does not solve anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before speaking to journalists, the ambassador had addressed staff and students of the American University of Nigeria at an elaborate reception ceremony marked by flag procession and speeches.<\/p>\n
In his speech, he commended the university for its support for some of the kidnapped Chibok girls who escaped from their abductors, and for setting up the Adamawa Peace Initiative, which is working to entrench peace and tranquillity in the state.<\/p>\n
Also speaking at the event, AUN President, Margee Ensign, said the institution, just 10 years old, is well on its way to becoming Africa\u2019s best development university.<\/p>\n
Ms. Ensign said students of the university are trained to understand the challenges facing their country and the world, and develop solutions to them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The US government has again revealed the double standard they practice in dealing with government across the world. While the US government says it is against terrorism and supports human rights, the same government di not want to supply arms to the Nigeria government to fight terrorism due to so-called human rights violation but the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2566,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[23],"tags":[34,104,103],"class_list":["post-2565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international-news","tag-boko-haram","tag-terrorism","tag-usa"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/boko-haram1.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4oswh-Fn","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2565"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2565\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2567,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2565\/revisions\/2567"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}