THERE were strong indications on Monday that the United States would soon lift the current arms embargo placed on Nigeria.
The Head of a Delegation of the US
Congress Committee on Judiciary to the country, Mr. Darrel Issa, said......
this while speaking with journalists after an indoor meeting with the
nation’s defence and military chiefs at the National Defence College,
Abuja.
Issa said that the US had commenced the
process of lifting the restrictions of the Leahy Law on Nigeria because
of the recent moves to professionalise the military by the Chief of
Defence Staff, Maj. Gen. Abayomi Olonisakin, and the service chiefs.
The Leahy Law is a human rights law of
the US, which prevents the US State Department and the Department of
Defence from selling arms and ammunition to countries whose military are
believed to have committed brazen acts of rights violation.
The refusal of the US government to sell
arms to the country because of the Leahy law had made Nigeria under
former President Goodluck Jonathan to explore other options, including
the Black Market, to get desperately needed arms and ammunition to halt
the advances of the Boko Haram insurgents in 2014.
Issa added that most of America’s
support for Nigeria in the area of training, technical support and
equipment provision was not tied to the Leahy and had not been stopped.
He said that the US was relying on
President Muhammadu Buhari and the military chiefs to rebuild the trust
of Nigerians in the military as an institution that would protect the
citizenry.
The
US congressman said that Nigerian military chiefs and the American
delegation had discussed the issue of additional support, especially in
the area of aerial surveillance critical to the fight against insurgency
and the theft of the nation’s crude oil.
Culled - Punch
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