Buhari at a reunion meeting with War College mates
President Muhammadu Buhari has returned to Abuja after his four-day visit to the United States.
During the visit, Buhari met with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.He also met with the World Bank President Jim Yong-Kim, where a $2.1 billion aid was announced for Nigeria’s Boko Haram ravaged north east states.
The Nigerian leader also had a session with Nigerians living in the United States and a reunion meeting with some of his classmates at the War College in Pennsylvania, which he attended in 1980.
In one of his last acts in Washington, Buhari expressed frustration that the United States was still hiding behind the Leahy Law to deny Nigeria the much needed weapons to battle Boko Haram.
The law forbids the United States from selling weapons to countries abusing human rights, a constant accusation against Nigerian armed forces prosecuting the Boko Haram war since 2009.
File Photo: PMB arrives Abuja
“ In the face of abduction of innocent school girls from their hostels, indiscriminate bombings of civilians in markets and places of worship, our forces have remained largely impotent because they do not possess the appropriate weapons and technology which they could have had, had the so called human rights violations not been an obstacle.
“Unwittingly, and I dare say, unintentionally, the application of the Leahy law amendment by the U. S. Government has aided and abetted the Boko Haram terrorist group in the prosecution of its extremist ideology and hate, the indiscriminate killings and maiming of civilians, in raping of women and girls, and in their other heinous crimes.
“I believe this is not the spirit of the Leahy Laws. I know the American people cannot support any group engaged in these crimes. I therefore strongly appeal to both the Executive Arm and the US Congress to examine how the US Government can provide us with far more substantial counter-terrorism assistance with minimal strings. The longer we delay, the deadlier the Boko Haram gets.
“At all events, we have re-written the rules of engagement protecting the rights of combatants and in particular safeguarding civilians in theatres of conflict.”
He also told the audience that he would work very hard to sustain the current goodwill his government had received at home and abroad.
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