Insecurity: NSCIA berates CAN, US asks FG to protect Nigerians

The United States has advised the Federal Government to do more in protecting Nigerians and humanitarian organisations that are assisting the country in the face of activities of Boko Haram insurgents and other religious and ethnic violence.

The US Secretary of State, Michael Pompeo, made the call in Washington DC during a joint media briefing he had with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, after the US-Nigeria Bi-national Commission meeting.

Pompeo made the call amidst increasing attacks by Boko Haram insurgents on aid workers and residents of the North-East as well as the rising killings by bandits in other parts of the country, particularly, Niger, Zamfara and Katsina states.

Also on insecurity, the Presidency and the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs on Wednesday hit back at the Christian Association of Nigeria over its attack on President Muhammadu Buhari, who said insurgents had killed more Muslims than Christians.

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But CAN on Wednesday insisted that the NSCIA could not exonerate Boko Haram as an Islamic organisation.

Buhari, had in an op-ed published in a United States-based magazine, Christianity Today, said Christians were not the primary targets of the insurgents

CAN’s Director of Legal and Public Affairs, Kwamkur Samuel, in his response, told newsmen on Tuesday that Buhari’s statement was provocative.

He said Boko Haram had wiped out all Christian communities in Borno, Adamawa, Yobe, among others.

The rising insecurity in Nigeria featured at the US-Nigeria Bi-national Commission meeting in Washington DC

The Department of State, which hosted the meeting, made the full transcript of the media briefing available to journalists

Pompeo said although the US government was aware that the issues involved in the security challenges were hard and complicated, there was the need for the government to protect its civilians.

To achieve this, he said the US would provide $40m in humanitarian assistance to Nigeria in addition to the nearly $350m that was provided in 2019

He said, “The foreign minister and I also discussed the massive humanitarian crisis caused by Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa and other religious and ethnic violence.”

Pompeo stated, “We know that these issues are hard. We know that they’re complicated. But I strongly encourage the Nigerian government to do more to protect its civilians, including religious communities and the humanitarian organisations, seeking to assist them.

While noting that security cooperation between the two countries had been expanding, Pompeo cited Nigeria’s recent $500m purchase of 12 US-made A-29 aircraft.

This, he said, supported the recently stated goal of Buhari of creating “a security force with the best training and modern weaponry.

“The United States has already invested in the training of Nigeria’s military on human rights and the Law of Armed Conflict