US Senator Patrick Leahy urges Buhari to step up action against army atrocities to get aid

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has been urged by US Senator Patrick Leahy to step up his investigation of the units of the Nigerian military implicated in atrocities if he wants to get more support from Washington.

 

Amnesty International recently accused the Nigerian Army of numerous atrocities, including the killing of about 8,000 civilians. Senator Leahy, the sponsor of the Leahy Law on Human Rights charged President Buhari during his recent visit to the US to direct his attention to the military and clean up units allegedly implicated in atrocities in order to get more support from US instead of rebuking the Leahy Law.

 

During his visit to the US, President Buhari stated the Leahy Law aided and abetted the campaign of bloodletting by Boko Haram. Former aviation minister, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode also accused the US of imposing an international arms embargo on Nigeria that has immensely hindered the war on terror.

Senator Leahy said: “It is well documented by the State Department and by respected human rights organisations that Nigerian army personnel have, for many years, engaged in a pattern and practice of gross violations of human rights against the Nigerian people and others, including summary executions of prisoners, indiscriminate attacks against civilians, torture, forced disappearances and rape. Rarely have the perpetrators been prosecuted or punished. This abusive conduct not only violates the laws of war, it creates fear and loathing among the Nigerian people whose support is necessary to defeat a terrorist group like Boko Haram.

“President Buhari ignores the undisputed fact that most Nigerian army units have been approved, under the Leahy Law, for US training and equipment. Only those particular units against which there is credible evidence of the most heinous crimes are ineligible for US aid and even those units can again become eligible if the Nigerian government takes effective steps to bring the responsible individuals to justice."

 

Before President Goodluck Jonathan left officem, the US had refused to sell Nigeria Apache attack helicopters to fight Boko Haram, cuting the human rights abuses of the military. Using the Leahy Law, Washington quited the Amnesty International report as the reason for its refusal but it appears that President Buhari has managed to get a concession with the US finally agreeing to sell Nigeria the helicopters.