Days after a US Congressman claimed that the USAID funded global terror groups including Boko Haram, the US Embassy in Nigeria has indicated that it probes all assistance given to Nigeria to ensure they reach “intended recipients.”
The embassy’s post on X was not categorical if it probed all USAID funding in Nigeria, including the one alluded to by the US lawmaker, or if it intends to commence a fresh probe. It, however, condemned the “blatant disregard for human life perpetrated by Boko Haram.”
The statement by the US embassy came a few days after US Congressman Scott Perry accused the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) of funding global terrorist groups like Islamic State and al-Qaeda, including their local affiliates such as Boko Haram in Nigeria.
During the inaugural session of an advisory body created by Mr Trump to cut US government spending, Mr Perry, last week, said the USAID’s annual budget of $697 million including cash shipments to madrasas (Islamic schools), has inadvertently funded terrorist training camps and extremist groups.
The lawmaker is a member of Mr Trump’s Republican Party and the American president has been accused by critics of trying to damage the integrity of institutions like the USAID and end their operations.
In January, Mr Trump suspended all foreign aid for 90 days, explaining that the pause was to determine whether the use of those funds aligned with America’s interests.
While condemning Boko Haram’s atrocities, the US Mission to Nigeria stated that “comprehensive monitoring and evaluation systems are in place to help verify that U.S. assistance reaches intended recipients.”
“The United States condemns the violence and blatant disregard for human life perpetrated by Boko Haram and other terrorist groups in Nigeria and the region,” it stated, adding that the US Secretary of State designated Boko Haram a Foreign Terrorist Organisation on 14 November 2013 “to block the organisation’s assets and fundraising efforts, prosecute individual members and restrict their travel to the United States.”
The United States continues to work with Nigeria and regional partners to counter terrorism, it added.
The Nigerian government has been grappling with the war on terrorism on many fronts. In the North-east, soldiers continue to fight against insurgents, including Boko Haram and its breakaway faction, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
The insurgency in the region is now entering two decades with no hope of its ending soon. Some analysts say foreign funding is one of the reasons terrorism lingers.
Both Boko Haram and ISWAP have received funding from Islamic State. But since the schism that rocked the movement in 2016, Boko Haram has been left to source its funds locally using schemes such as levies on farming communities, kidnapping for ransom and violent raids on villages.
Even though ISWAP still enjoys external funding, it continues to impose taxes on civilians living in their strongholds. In 2020, a court in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) convicted six Nigerians for funding Boko Haram.