According to an article written by UK Telegraph,
the Buhari led government is allegedly using the
aids it gets from the United Kingdom
government to persecute its opponents instead
of prosecute the war against Boko Haram. Read
the article below ...
Hundreds of millions of pounds of British
foreign aid given to Nigeria to help
combat Boko Haram terrorists is instead
being used to fund a witch-hunt against
opposition politicians, it is being claimed.
Britain has committed to spending £860 million
in foreign aid to Nigeria, which now boasts
Africa’s largest economy, to help support the
country’s efforts to crush Boko Haram terror
group, which has been responsible for a spate of
outrages, including the kidnapping of hundreds
of Nigerian schoolgirls.
But Western officials are now raising concerns
that the government of the country’s recently
elected leader, President Muhammadu Buhari, is
misusing the funds to persecute political
opponents. Since Mr Buhari came to power last
July, a number of prominent members of the
former ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP)
have been arrested and imprisoned without
charge. Among those detained was the party’s
official spokesperson.
• Nigeria: a nation in fear of becoming the next
Rwanda Most of the arrests have been
sanctioned by the government-controlled
Economic and Financial Crime Commission,
which was set up to tackle corruption and
receives funding from the Department for
International Development.
But while Mr Buhari’s government continues to
use British aid money to target his political
opponents, it is proving less effective at tackling
the Islamist-run Boko Haram terrorist group.
Much of the aid Britain provides to Nigeria is
aimed at helping the country’s security forces to
become more effective at tackling Boko Haram,
which boasts of its links with Islamic State (Isil)
and achieved international notoriety two years
ago after kidnapping 276 schoolgirls in northern
Nigeria two years ago.
• Boko Haram demands '$50m ransom' for
release of kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls Scores
of British military personnel – including
members of the Special Forces – are based in
Nigeria helping to train the military to tackle
Boko Haram.
But despite Mr Buhari’s pledge during last year’s
general election campaign that he would make
tackling Boko Haram one of his top priorities,
there is growing concern among Western
officials that the Nigerian military is failing to
take effective action against the terrorists. This
has resulted in Boko Haram now being regarded
as the world’s deadliest terrorist organisation,
responsible for more deaths than Isil.
There are now reports that the group is trying to
train kidnapped children to act as suicide
bombers. “This is a scandal in the making,"
explained a senior U.S. official. "There is no
doubt the growing strength of Boko Haram is
because President Buhari is far more interested
in settling scores with his political opponents
that concentrating his energy on defeating
terrorists,” “The result is that Nigeria is starting
to look more and more like a police state while
Boko Haram just goes from strength to
strength.”
• The Boko Haram suicide bomber who survived
her deadly mission Another Western diplomat
added: “If Buhari was serious about fighting
corruption he would be focusing all of his
efforts on targeting corruption that is impeding
Nigeria’s ability to focus its efforts on tackling
Boko Haram.”
Accusations that Nigeria is abusing British aid
will add to the growing controversy over
Downing Street’s commitment to spend 0.7
percent of GDP on the foreign aid budget. Last
week the Telegraph reported that DFID was
under pressure to cancel £200 million of foreign
aid to Tanzania following concerns over a widely
condemned election.
This resulted in Dr Liam Fox, the former Defence
Secretary, accusing the government of “spraying
money around” simply to achieve the 0.7 per
cent target. Western officials have expressed
concern about Mr Buhari’s increasingly
autocratic style of government since he came to
power last year.
A retired major-general, Mr Buhari, 73, previously
headed a brutal military dictatorship following a
coup in December 1983, which lasted until he
was overthrown by another coup in 1985. Now
political opponents claim he is returning to his
old dictatorial ways, abusing British aid meant to
improve Nigeria’s ability to tackle Boko Haram
to consolidate his hold on power.
Apart from the concerns over British aid,
American officials are also angry that $2.1
billion of aid given to the Nigerian military to
tackle Boko Haram has not been properly
accounted for. Mr Buhari’s claim that he is
winning the war against Boko Haram - recently
claimed the group no longer poses a serious
threat - has been undermined by recent
revelations the Nigerian authorities have tried to
cover up the fact that hundreds more
schoolchildren have been abducted by Boko
Haram. Human rights activists have no
confirmed that around 400 women and children
were abducted last year by militants from the
Nigerian town of Damasak.
It is now believed that some of these children
may have been trained as suicide bombers. U.S.
counter-terrorism experts say at least 105
women and girls trained by Boko Haram have
taken part in suicide attacks since June 2014.According to an article written by UK Telegraph,
the Buhari led government is allegedly using the
aids it gets from the United Kingdom
government to persecute its opponents instead
of prosecute the war against Boko Haram. Read
the article below ...
Hundreds of millions of pounds of British
foreign aid given to Nigeria to help
combat Boko Haram terrorists is instead
being used to fund a witch-hunt against
opposition politicians, it is being claimed.
Britain has committed to spending £860 million
in foreign aid to Nigeria, which now boasts
Africa’s largest economy, to help support the
country’s efforts to crush Boko Haram terror
group, which has been responsible for a spate of
outrages, including the kidnapping of hundreds
of Nigerian schoolgirls.
But Western officials are now raising concerns
that the government of the country’s recently
elected leader, President Muhammadu Buhari, is
misusing the funds to persecute political
opponents. Since Mr Buhari came to power last
July, a number of prominent members of the
former ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP)
have been arrested and imprisoned without
charge. Among those detained was the party’s
official spokesperson.
• Nigeria: a nation in fear of becoming the next
Rwanda Most of the arrests have been
sanctioned by the government-controlled
Economic and Financial Crime Commission,
which was set up to tackle corruption and
receives funding from the Department for
International Development.
But while Mr Buhari’s government continues to
use British aid money to target his political
opponents, it is proving less effective at tackling
the Islamist-run Boko Haram terrorist group.
Much of the aid Britain provides to Nigeria is
aimed at helping the country’s security forces to
become more effective at tackling Boko Haram,
which boasts of its links with Islamic State (Isil)
and achieved international notoriety two years
ago after kidnapping 276 schoolgirls in northern
Nigeria two years ago.
• Boko Haram demands '$50m ransom' for
release of kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls Scores
of British military personnel – including
members of the Special Forces – are based in
Nigeria helping to train the military to tackle
Boko Haram.
But despite Mr Buhari’s pledge during last year’s
general election campaign that he would make
tackling Boko Haram one of his top priorities,
there is growing concern among Western
officials that the Nigerian military is failing to
take effective action against the terrorists. This
has resulted in Boko Haram now being regarded
as the world’s deadliest terrorist organisation,
responsible for more deaths than Isil.
There are now reports that the group is trying to
train kidnapped children to act as suicide
bombers. “This is a scandal in the making,"
explained a senior U.S. official. "There is no
doubt the growing strength of Boko Haram is
because President Buhari is far more interested
in settling scores with his political opponents
that concentrating his energy on defeating
terrorists,” “The result is that Nigeria is starting
to look more and more like a police state while
Boko Haram just goes from strength to
strength.”
• The Boko Haram suicide bomber who survived
her deadly mission Another Western diplomat
added: “If Buhari was serious about fighting
corruption he would be focusing all of his
efforts on targeting corruption that is impeding
Nigeria’s ability to focus its efforts on tackling
Boko Haram.”
Accusations that Nigeria is abusing British aid
will add to the growing controversy over
Downing Street’s commitment to spend 0.7
percent of GDP on the foreign aid budget. Last
week the Telegraph reported that DFID was
under pressure to cancel £200 million of foreign
aid to Tanzania following concerns over a widely
condemned election.
This resulted in Dr Liam Fox, the former Defence
Secretary, accusing the government of “spraying
money around” simply to achieve the 0.7 per
cent target. Western officials have expressed
concern about Mr Buhari’s increasingly
autocratic style of government since he came to
power last year.
A retired major-general, Mr Buhari, 73, previously
headed a brutal military dictatorship following a
coup in December 1983, which lasted until he
was overthrown by another coup in 1985. Now
political opponents claim he is returning to his
old dictatorial ways, abusing British aid meant to
improve Nigeria’s ability to tackle Boko Haram
to consolidate his hold on power.
Apart from the concerns over British aid,
American officials are also angry that $2.1
billion of aid given to the Nigerian military to
tackle Boko Haram has not been properly
accounted for. Mr Buhari’s claim that he is
winning the war against Boko Haram - recently
claimed the group no longer poses a serious
threat - has been undermined by recent
revelations the Nigerian authorities have tried to
cover up the fact that hundreds more
schoolchildren have been abducted by Boko
Haram. Human rights activists have no
confirmed that around 400 women and children
were abducted last year by militants from the
Nigerian town of Damasak.
It is now believed that some of these children
may have been trained as suicide bombers. U.S.
counter-terrorism experts say at least 105
women and girls trained by Boko Haram have
taken part in suicide attacks since June 2014.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment