Olusegun Ariyo
The United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Richard Mills, has said there is no evidence that the United States Agency for International Development is funding Boko Haram in Nigeria or any terrorist group.
Mills disclosed this after meeting with the Nigeria Governors Forum in Abuja late Wednesday.
He assured that if any evidence is found that USAID funds Boko Haram or any terrorist group, the US government will work with the Nigerian government to investigate the matter.
He said, “Let me be clear— there is no friend of Nigeria stronger in condemning Boko Haram’s violence and disregard for human life than the United States.
“We have designated Boko Haram as a foreign terrorist organisation since 2013, blocking the group from transferring assets to the US and allowing us to arrest and seize its members.
“We cooperate in investigations with the Nigerian government. I can assure you that we have strict policies and procedures to ensure that USAID funding or any other US assistance, whether from USAID, the Department of Defence, or the State Department, is not diverted to terrorist groups like Boko Haram.
“There is no evidence of such diversion, and if we ever had evidence that Boko Haram was misusing any programme funding, we would immediately investigate it with our Nigerian partners.”
Recall that on February 13, Congressman Scott Perry accused USAID of funding terrorist groups, including Boko Haram.
The lawmaker, Perry, a Republican from Pennsylvania, made this statement during the first hearing of the Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency.
“Who gets some of that money? Does that name ring a bell to anybody in the room? Because your money, your money, $697 million annually, plus the shipments of cash funds in Madrasas, ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, ISIS Khorasan, and terrorist training camps. That’s what it’s funding,” he said.
The claim sparked a reaction to the role of USAID in Nigeria and globally.
Consequently, on Wednesday, the Nigerian Senate called on the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, along with the heads of the National Intelligence Agency and the Defence Intelligence Agency, to address allegations of terrorist funding involving USAID.
