ICC Note: The United States has thrown its hands in to the mix of the Boko Haram fight in northern Nigeria. The U.S. government said it will help fund a multinational military force led by Nigeria to the tune of five million dollars in order to defeat the Islamic terrorists. Boko Haram has been the prime offender in persecuting Christians in northern Nigeria for the past six years. In their quest to establish an Islamic caliphate in Africa, they have targeted Christians for murder, kidnapping, rape, and a host of other atrocities. Muslim Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has already taken steps to ramp up the fight on Boko Haram by meeting with other African leaders to coordinate strategy and by moving the military’s base of operations from the capital Abuja to the front lines in Maiduguri.
6/16/15 Nigeria (BBC) – The US says it will give $5m (£3.2m) towards a multi-national task force being set up to fight Nigeria’s militant Islamist group Boko Haram.
Boko Haram “was not just a Nigerian problem”, US official Linda Thomas-Greenfield said.
The group was blamed for suicide bombings which killed more than 20 people in neighbouring Chad on Monday.
Chad will be the headquarters of the Nigeria-led force of around 7,500 troops from five countries.
The formation of the force has gained momentum since Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari took office last month.
Nigeria’s previous administration, led by Goodluck Jonathan, was seen to have dragged its heels over the creation of the force, as it feared it would undermine Nigeria’s sovereignty, correspondents say.
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