US Congress To Form A 5-year Plan To Assist Nigeria Eradicate Boko Haram

US Congress To Form A 5-year Plan To Assist Nigeria Eradicate Boko Haram

The United States’ House of Representatives on Friday passed a legislation directing the country’s Secretaries of State and Defence to jointly develop a five-year strategy to assist Nigeria in defeating Islamist terrorists, Boko Haram.

This will come in form of providing assistance to members of the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) and international partners currently engaged in counter-insurgency efforts in Nigeria’s war-ravaged northeast.

The legislation entitled H.R. 3833/S.1632 and sponsored by Congresswoman Frederica Wilson (D-Florida) and Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine), was passed by voice vote and will aim to address the crushing humanitarian and educational crises created by Boko Haram, AllAfrica writes.

Explaining the motive for the bill, Congresswoman Wilson, said: “Boko Haram captured my attention and the headlines when the terrorist group kidnapped 276 Nigerian schoolgirls from their dormitory rooms 968 days ago. For most of the world, the Chibok girls symbolised the horror that is Boko Haram, but the damage its members have wrought goes far deeper.”

She averred that Boko Haram had pledged allegiance to ISIS and it continued to commit terrible acts of brutal violence against Nigerians, and in neighbouring Chad, Cameroon and Niger Republic, hence the need for concerted efforts to defeat them.

While the move is a welcome development, it may not spark a lot of enthusiasm among Nigerians considering that the US has reneged on a number of promises, particularly their pledge in 2015 to embark on a joint military campaign with the Nigerian army.

Furthermore, the US intervention in war-torn Middle East has left the region worse off, leaving them with the worst humanitarian crisis in recent times.

But as the Nigerian army announces plans to raid the Sambisa forest in the coming days as part of the final phase of the war against Boko Haram, perhaps one big push on a multilateral scale would go a long way in ridding the country of insurgents.