Don’t Allow Claims of USAID Funded Boko Haram Be Swept Under Carpet, Ndume Tasks FG
Abuja (Core Reporters) Senator Mohamed Ali Ndume representing Borno South Senatorial District at the 10th Senate has urged the Federal Government of Nigeria to probe a claim by US Congressman Scott Perry that aborted United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded terrorist organisations, including Boko Haram.
Ndume said the allegations coming from a US congregants should not be taking with a pinch of salt, stressing that, “You can’t say it’s just an allegation; it’s more than that,”
The former senate leader gave the charges wguke on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme monitored by our correspondent.
“That’s why the Nigerian government and the National Assembly, especially, need to look into it to investigate and verify the veracity of such a very weighty allegation.”
The out-spoken Federal lawmaker said Nigerian government should be interested in the US congressman’s revelation, considering that there had been suspicions that foreign humanitarian agencies operating in Nigeria’s insurgent-ridded North-East zone sponsored terrorist activities.
“This development is very worrisome, especially because one of the terrorist organisations mentioned by Scott Perry is Boko Haram, and Boko Haram has ravaged not only the North-East but even (other parts of) Nigeria.
“You can remember Boko Haram bombed the police headquarters and the UN office in Abuja, and the casualties were enormous. So, the Nigerian government must be interested.
“I’m worried, but the Nigerian security agencies have raised this indirectly several times. Even the Borno State government was wary of the operations of the NGOs.
“I remember during the period of (Lieutenant General Tukur) Buratai, the Nigerian Army got intelligence and even raided the office of USAID or United Nations in Maiduguri. There was also a time when the governor got intelligence and security agencies raided one NGO that was providing training to some of their staff on how to use guns.
“We have been wondering for all these years where these people are getting money,” he stated.
‘Nigeria Should Give Aid, Not Receive It’, saying that millions Nigerians have been displaced and over 50,000 killed in about two decades since the terror war started in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states in Nigeria’s insurgent-prone North-East zone.
Ndume expressed worries that that is still receiving aid feom other countries instead of giving out humanitarian assistance to other countries.
“This issue of relying on aid from other countries is not even good for us because Nigeria, by now, is supposed to be the one that is giving out aid and not receiving aid,” he said.
“This is like a wake-up call for all of us in government. We have everything; the only problem is the leadership. We need to fix that so that we’ll tap into what we have and be content,’ he concluded