BY News Agency
The United States (US) has restated its commitment to assisting Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram and the rescue of Chibok girls.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US assistant secretary of state for African affairs, and David Rodriguez, commander US Africa command (USAAFRICOM), made this known in a joint online press conference on Thursday.
Thomas-Greenfield said the American government will engage President Muhammadu Buhari on the issue when the Nigerian president visits White House later in the month.
“We will have discussions with him on what we can do to continue to assist Nigeria and their effort to fight against Boko Haram,” she said.
“Part of that discussion will be how we can provide the equipment and support that Nigerians require. We will have discussion on what we can do to continue to assist Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram.
“Human rights are an important value for the United States and in any place that we are providing lethal weapons. We want to know that the militaries that we are providing those weapons to do not use that in a way that violates the human rights of ordinary civilians so we will have that discussion moving forward.”
Thomas-Greenfield added that the US government will also focus on how to prepare Nigerian military to support communities.
She also said that the rescue of the abducted Chibok girls was high priority for the US government.
“This has been an extremely high priority for the US government to assist in bringing these girls home and also hundreds of other girls and young boys who were forcefully abducted by Boko Haram,” she said.
“We will not let up on our efforts; we will continue to work with the government.”
She commended Buhari and his wife for relating with the families of the abducted Chibok girls and letting them know they have not been forgotten.
On his part, Rodriguez said the US has been sharing intelligence with the Nigerian government on the Chibok girls and other Boko Haram captives.
He said the command supports peace keeping efforts and strengthens the capacity of the military in Africa through partnership.
“We will continue to do that and pursue the effort of rescuing the girls,” he said.
“The United States government is commitment to assisting African countries as they build their capacity to counter terrorism, which AFRICOM is key to providing such assistance.
“We continue to share intelligence with the Nigerian military in the fight against insurgency.”
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