A day after a suspected Boko Haram suicide bomber detonated himself in a school killing at least 47 students, a Nigerian lawmaker has urged the US Government to supply arms to Nigerian military to help them fight the terror group.
Professor Ini Udoka, Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Civil Society and Donor Agencies sounded worried at reports that US envoy to Nigeria James Entwistle had hinted at US reluctance to sell arms to Nigeria, fearing that the military may misuse it, a local news site reported.
“I want to use this opportunity to appeal to the government of the United States to reconsider the stance on the issue of insecurity in Nigeria,” Nigerian observer news quoted him as saying in Abuja.
US envoy Entwistle later clarified that the reports referred to by Professor Udoka were fabricated and reiterated that the US continues to stand with the Nigerian government I n fighting the Boko Haram.
“We know that the assistance of the US in combating insurgency in Nigeria would help us to a large extent to curb some of these atrocities.’’
“We have made it clear that my government stands firmly with the Nigerian government in the fight against terror and in the fight against Boko Haram’’, Entwistle was quoted as saying.
Prof Udoka also condoled the death od ozens of students who lost their lives to the suicide attack yesterday at a school in Potiskum.
Disguised in a school uniform, a suicide bomber set off explosives hidden in a backpack during an assembly Monday at a high school in northern Nigeria, killing at least 48 students and wounding 79 others.
It was the latest attack by suspected Boko Haram militants who kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls earlier this year.
