U.S. Affirms Interest In Nigeria’s War Against Insecurity

The United States Government has assured that it will do its best to ensure that issues of insecurity and conflict in Nigeria are “prevented”.

The U.S. Special Envoy for the Sahel Region of Africa, John Peter Pham, made this known on Tuesday, amid continuing incidents of terrorism and banditary in parts of the country.

For instance, according to a report published on the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ (OCHA) website (Relief Web), farmer/herder conflicts in Nigeria “had claimed 2,500 lives, displaced thousands, destroyed properties worth billions of naira” in 2016.

This is apart from pockets of criminal activities like kidnappings and banditary, not to mention the Boko Haram insurgency.

But Pham stressed that the U.S. would offer security cooperation to the country, to deal with all conflicts.

“The U.S. government continues security assistance and governance efforts to prevent and mitigate conflict and the spread of violent extremism in the West African coastal countries and Nigeria,” he stated in a US Africa Media Hub official tweet.

.@DrJPeterPham: The U.S. government continues security assistance and governance efforts to prevent and mitigate conflict and the spread of violent extremism in the West African coastal countries and Nigeria. #AFHubPress

— US Africa Media Hub (@AfricaMediaHub) January 5, 2021

Pham also claimed that U.S. approach to African countries was more of supportive and not overriding.

“Our approach to the Sahel is to ensure that Africans come up with African solutions with the support of international partners,” he said.