ICC Note: The United States has agreed to provide $45 million dollars to the West African nations who are at the forefront of Boko Haram’s terrorist activities. The nations of Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Benin, and Niger will also be provided with military training and education along with defense articles and services. It represents a shift in U.S. foreign policy specifically toward the Nigerian government as U.S. officials denied former President Goodluck Jonathan with heavy weapons support. The move comes months after President Buhari made an official visit to the United States. Boko Haram continues their barbaric attacks on Christian communities in the Lake Chad Basin through murder, kidnapping, terrorism, and rape.
09/25/2015 Nigeria (Washington Examiner) – President Obama on Thursday authorized $45 million in defense aid to five African countries as they battle the Islamic militant group Boko Haram.
The State Department will funnel the “defense articles and services” and “military education and training” to the Lake Chad Basin countries of Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria, National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said.
Obama’s actions enable Secretary of State John Kerry to provide “critical airlift support and other assistance, including to help the Lake Chad Basin countries move troops and equipment to the border region from which Boko Haram terrorists continue to launch brutal attacks on civilians,” he said.
