Renowned
security expert, Dr. Ona Ekhomu has called upon the United States Government to
sell arms and ammunition to the Nigerian government to enable speedy and successfully
prosecution of the war against Boko Haram. “Nigeria needs special
anti-terrorist rifles, attack helicopters, technical intelligence and training
from the Americans in order to expedite defeat of the enemy,” he said.
Speaking in
Atlanta, Georgia USA on October 1st 2014 at the 60th
Annual Seminar and Exhibits of the American Society for Industrial Security
(ASIS International), Dr. Ekhomu argued that US government support and
capability enhancement were necessary as Nigeria and the USA were fighting a
common enemy -- the terror networks that included ISIS, Boko Haram, Al Qaeda,
Ansar Dine, Jabhat Al Nusra, Khorasan, Talibans, etc
Ekhomu said
that Boko Haram and ISIS were ideologically and operationally linked as
evidenced by the BH land grab strategy in northeastern Nigeria and the
declaration of the Islamic Caliphate of Gwoza which were similar to the ISIS
land grab in Syria and Iraq and declaration of Islamic Caliphate in Iraq and
Syria.
President of
the Association of Industrial Security and Safety Operators of Nigeria (AISSON),
Dr. Ona Ekhomu said that the allegations of human rights abuses levelled against
the Nigerian military by Amnesty InternatIonal were “untrue, exaggerated and
unsubstantiated.” He said that arms sales to Nigeria were being denied by the
US government as per provisions of the Leahy Act on the basis of “these
unsubstantiated and unfortunate allegations.” He urged the US authorities to
conduct independent verification of the “nonsensical allegations”.
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