[dropcap]A[/dropcap] few years ago, the then opposition party, All Progressive Congress (APC) told the International Community that the Nigerian troops were killing innocent civilians in the name of fighting Boko Haram.
They told them that the army were committing genocide and violating people’s human rights; and that Boko Haram came up as a result of neglect by the government. A fight against Boko Haram, they said, was a fight against the North. It took time before Boko Haram was finally classified as a terrorist organisation by the Obama Administration because of the activities of these power mongers.
They went ahead to even take former Chief of Army Staff, General Ihejirika to the International Criminal Court. Every attempt by the government of the day to purchase weapons necessary to fight Boko Haram was thwarted by these same people. The United States and many other Western countries placed an embargo on selling weapons to Nigeria following a law called Leahy Amendment (Leahy Law) which forbids selling arms the countries or government with human rights abuses.
The attempted weapons purchase by Nigeria from South Africa was thwarted forcing a diplomatic row with the former Apartheid enclave. The APC, in its power-hungry campaign, basically sabotaged Nigeria’s effort to fight terrorists!
Goodluck Jonathan’s administration had to go to Russia and China to purchase weapons with which they curtailed the activities of Boko Haram.
Now, having captured power, Buhari and the APC went back to the same United States to beg for weapons without showing evidence that the so-called human rights abusers in the military has been brought to justice. They are still unable to show cause why the Leahy Law should no longer apply to Nigeria.
When you cut off your nose to spite your face, that’s what you get. Now who are paying the price of short-sightedness and conspiracy against Nigeria? Boko Haram is now back and with serious backing from ISIS!
Chukwudi Nwokoye is a lawyer (LL.M.) and a former United States Marine who hails from Anambra State of Nigeria. He is on Facebook and can be emailed at [email protected].
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
