According to an article written by
UK Telegraph,
the Buhari led government is allegedly using the aids it gets from the
United Kingdom government to persecute its opponents instead of
prosecute the war against Boko Haram. Read the article below ...
Hundreds of millions of pounds of British foreign aid given to Nigeria
to help combat Boko Haram terrorists is instead being used to fund a
witch-hunt against opposition politicians, it is being claimed.
Britain has committed to spending £860 million in foreign aid to
Nigeria, which now boasts Africa’s largest economy, to help support the
country’s efforts to crush Boko Haram terror group, which has been
responsible for a spate of outrages, including the kidnapping of
hundreds of Nigerian schoolgirls.
But Western officials are now raising concerns that the government of
the country’s recently elected leader, President Muhammadu Buhari, is
misusing the funds to persecute political opponents.
Since Mr Buhari came to power last July, a number of prominent members
of the former ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) have been arrested
and imprisoned without charge. Among those detained was the party’s
official spokesperson.
• Nigeria: a nation in fear of becoming the next Rwanda
Most of the arrests have been sanctioned by the government-controlled
Economic and Financial Crime Commission, which was set up to tackle
corruption and receives funding from the Department for International
Development.
But while Mr Buhari’s government continues to use British aid money to
target his political opponents, it is proving less effective at tackling
the Islamist-run Boko Haram terrorist group.
Much of the aid Britain provides to Nigeria is aimed at helping the
country’s security forces to become more effective at tackling Boko
Haram, which boasts of its links with Islamic State (Isil) and achieved
international notoriety two years ago after kidnapping 276 schoolgirls
in northern Nigeria two years ago.
• Boko Haram demands '$50m ransom' for release of kidnapped Chibok
schoolgirls
Scores of British military personnel – including members of the Special
Forces – are based in Nigeria helping to train the military to tackle
Boko Haram.
But despite Mr Buhari’s pledge during last year’s general election
campaign that he would make tackling Boko Haram one of his top
priorities, there is growing concern among Western officials that the
Nigerian military is failing to take effective action against the
terrorists.
This has resulted in Boko Haram now being regarded as the world’s
deadliest terrorist organisation, responsible for more deaths than Isil.
There are now reports that the group is trying to train kidnapped
children to act as suicide bombers.
“This is a scandal in the making," explained a senior U.S. official.
"There is no doubt the growing strength of Boko Haram is because
President Buhari is far more interested in settling scores with his
political opponents that concentrating his energy on defeating
terrorists,” “The result is that Nigeria is starting to look more and
more like a police state while Boko Haram just goes from strength to
strength.”
• The Boko Haram suicide bomber who survived her deadly mission
Another Western diplomat added: “If Buhari was serious about fighting
corruption he would be focusing all of his efforts on targeting
corruption that is impeding Nigeria’s ability to focus its efforts on
tackling Boko Haram.”
Accusations that Nigeria is abusing British aid will add to the growing
controversy over Downing Street’s commitment to spend 0.7 percent of GDP
on the foreign aid budget. Last week the Telegraph reported that DFID
was under pressure to cancel £200 million of foreign aid to Tanzania
following concerns over a widely condemned election.
This resulted in Dr Liam Fox, the former Defence Secretary, accusing the
government of “spraying money around” simply to achieve the 0.7 per
cent target.
Western officials have expressed concern about Mr Buhari’s increasingly
autocratic style of government since he came to power last year.
A retired major-general, Mr Buhari, 73, previously headed a brutal
military dictatorship following a coup in December 1983, which lasted
until he was overthrown by another coup in 1985.
Now political opponents claim he is returning to his old dictatorial
ways, abusing British aid meant to improve Nigeria’s ability to tackle
Boko Haram to consolidate his hold on power.
Apart from the concerns over British aid, American officials are also
angry that $2.1 billion of aid given to the Nigerian military to tackle
Boko Haram has not been properly accounted for.
Mr Buhari’s claim that he is winning the war against Boko Haram -
recently claimed the group no longer poses a serious threat - has been
undermined by recent revelations the Nigerian authorities have tried to
cover up the fact that hundreds more schoolchildren have been abducted
by Boko Haram.
Human rights activists have no confirmed that around 400 women and
children were abducted last year by militants from the Nigerian town of
Damasak.
It is now believed that some of these children may have been trained as
suicide bombers. U.S. counter-terrorism experts say at least 105 women
and girls trained by Boko Haram have taken part in suicide attacks since
June 2014.
