•A USAID officer watches as a US military C-17 cargo plane taxis to a stop at Kathmandu’s international airport
Former President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev Samson Ayokunle, has described as belated, a claim by United States Congressman Scott Perry that the US Agency for International Development (USAID) funded terrorist organisations, including Boko Haram.
“I will blame the international community, especially the United States Congress,” the cleric said today on Channels Television.
“If they knew this truth a long time ago, why are they coming out now? Is it not almost too late? Why did they allow this type of thing to be done to Nigeria?
“We were already suspecting for long because those days when President (Goodluck) Jonathan was pleading with the United States of America, they refused to do that. That was during the time of President (Barack) Obama, claiming that our military will not be cautious enough in the use of ammunition.”
Ayokunle said CAN had raised the alarm that terrorist organisations in Nigeria have foreign sponsors and a steady supply of cash and arms but the Christian body was misinterpreted.
“Now, it is coming out. USAID is now alleged to be behind the sponsorship of Boko Haram in Nigeria,” he said.
The former CAN chair said the US congressman’s allegations should not be swept under the carpet.
“I will not take Scott Perry for granted because he didn’t talk about Nigeria alone; he talked about the same organisation USAID being used in the same way in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and other places
“Can he be very irrational and just be talking with every side of his mouth? You can’t take such a caliber of individual for granted. For what reason will the congressman implicate an organisation of his country?” he asked.
Ayokunle faulted the poor intelligence of the security agencies, saying they failed to identify the source of terror funding till the revelation by the US congressman.
“All the security agencies that we have – Customs and Immigration – how can they be easily beaten without apprehending this monumental danger coming upon our nation? The ammunition that our military and police don’t have, these people have them.
“Even amidst them also, I suspect that insincere people are there because there is no way these terrorists will be receiving these things that they won’t know,” he said.
He asked the federal government to probe the claim by the US congressman and block all other sources of terror funding.
“The Nigerian government should investigate how a foreign organisation is distributing money and weapons to a terrorist group in Nigeria and nobody discovered that. It means their roof is leaking.
“It’s not too late; this war must be brought to an end. And every source of funding beyond that of USAID must be investigated, and blocked, henceforth. Enough is enough,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Senate in Nigeria has summoned the heads of intelligence agencies over the claim against USAID by the US congressman. US Ambassador to Nigeria, Richard Mills, also dismissed the allegation that USAID funded Boko Haram or other insurgent groups.
Members of the bloodthirsty group, Boko Haram, have killed thousands of people and displaced millions of residents in Nigeria’s troubled North-East zone.
