US lawmakers are holding down a proposed sale of attack helicopters to
Nigeria, citing poor human rights record of President Muhammadu
Buhari’s government, as it grapples with multiple security crises.
The deal, according to US officials and congressional aides familiar with
the matter is worth $875 million.
The lawmakers on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, according
to a report reviewed by Foreign Policy magazine, have reportedly
delayed clearing a proposed sale of 12 AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters
and accompanying defense systems to the Nigerian military, citing the
drift of the present government in Nigeria towards authoritarianism and
human rights violations, among others.
But the Presidency in a swift reaction, said Nigeria will get every
necessary assistance it wants from the US government.
This came as UK parliamentarians, including Founder/CEO of
Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust, HART, Baroness Cox, Lord Alton of
Liverpool, Dr. Rowan Williams, Founder/ President, Mervyn Thomas
CMG and CEO, International Organization for Peace and Social Justice,
Ayo Adedoyin, wrote a letter to the Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab,
expressing concerns that recent Foreign, Commonwealth and
Development Office, FCDO, report on human rights and democracy
didn’t list Nigeria as a priority country.
Their concerns stemmed from the fact that Nigeria was excluded, despite
daily reports of terrorist violence, mass forced displacement, rise in
abductions for ransom and a general backsliding on democratic
practices.
