The U.S. ambassador to Nigeria, Richard Mills, says there is no evidence to back allegations that the United States Agency for International Development funded the Boko Haram terrorist group in the country.
Mr Mills said this while speaking with journalists shortly after his presentation at the Nigerian Governors’ Forum meeting on Wednesday night in Abuja.
Mr Mills said Boko Haram had been designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation since 2013. He challenged anyone with evidence of misappropriation to present it, saying it would be thoroughly investigated in collaboration with Nigerian partners.
Mr Mills reiterated the U.S. commitment to Nigeria and its efforts to combat Boko Haram’s violence.
“There’s no friend of Nigeria that has been stronger in its condemnation of the violence of Boko Haram and Boko Haram’s contempt for human life than the United States.
“We labelled Boko Haram since 2013 a foreign terrorist organisation, a designation that was designed to block Boko Haram from carrying out any asset transfers to the United States.
“This allows us to arrest and seize members of Boko Haram and allows us to cooperate in investigations with the Nigerian government. I can assure you we have policies and procedures in place to ensure that USAID funding, any of our assistance funding, whether that comes from USAID the Department of Defense, is not diverted to a terrorist group like Boko Haram,” the American diplomat stated.
He added, “There is absolutely no evidence that I have seen that has occurred. And certainly, if we ever had evidence presented to U.S. that a programme funding was being diverted to Boko Haram, we would immediately investigate along with our Nigerian partners.
“I just want to be clear that when it comes to Boko Haram, the United States stands with Nigeria in wanting to rid this country of the scourge that the organisation represents.”
On February 13, a US Congressman, Scott Perry, accused USAID of funding terrorist groups, including Boko Haram.
Perry, a Republican from Pennsylvania, claimed during the inaugural hearing of the Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency.
The session, titled “The War on Waste: Stamping Out the Scourge of Improper Payments and Fraud,” examined allegations of misappropriation of taxpayer funds.
Perry said that USAID’s financial activities have directly benefited terror groups worldwide, including Boko Haram, Al-Qaeda, and ISIS.
He alleged that USAID’s annual budget of $697 million, including cash payments to Islamic schools (madrasas), may have inadvertently financed extremist training camps and terror groups.
“Who gets some of that 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,” Perry stated.
With NAN report
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