United States troops may be deployed in the search
for the over 200 abducted secondary school girls in
Chibok, Borno State, it was learnt yesterday.
A US Congressional delegation made up of
Representatives Steve Stockman, Sheila Jackson-
Lee, Frederica Wilson and Lois Frankel, told a news
conference at the Unity Fountain in Abuja yesterday
that the US planned to take action.
Stockman said: “We get briefed by the military and
pending the approval of the government of Nigeria
and our government, we plan
to take action but I
don’t think we are going into specifics this time; it
was a classified briefing. We stand ready to help
and as soon as our government and Nigerian
government approve, we will take action.”
In the meantime, US is helping Nigeria to train its
military.
Jackson-Lee said: “What I want to say is that I
think what it is right now is to work with the
Nigerian government in training of the military. I
want to emphasise again here that we have come
all these miles to say that our Congress stands
ready to cooperate with the government in a manner
that is appropriate and with the consent of Nigerian
government. And I want to emphasise the need for
the Victims Relief Fund because there is so much
suffering going on by the young girls and the
families that have been touched by this violence.”
The delegation also urged the Nigeria government to
establish a National Victims Fund.
The fund, they argued, is necessary for the
rehabilitation of all those who have suffered from
the Boko Haram horrific violence.
Jackson-Lee said: “Collectively, we bring a wide
range of special knowledge to Nigeria and to focus
on a very important issue. We have come from the
United States to focus on bringing the girls back and
to focus on stopping the violence of Boko Haram.”
The group narrated the story of a woman who
watched her husband, a police officer, decapitated
by Boko Haram, her throat was slashed to a point
that she cannot speak and her arms were slashed.
She received no compensation.
“ So we come today with solution; we also come
today in asking the North east and Nigeria to
continue to accept international help and it is time
to find a way to contain the Boko Haram and save
the lives of so many,” she said.
The group urged the government of Nigeria to
establish a National Victims Fund, for “all of the
victims who have suffered at the hands of Boko
Haram, for the girls who are still missing, for the
girls who escaped, for their families, for the father
who spoke to us about his missing daughter, and
the victims who have perished and their families.
They need compensation.
“We thank President Obama and the United States
Congress for its very keen interest on the question
of bringing the girls back, and stopping the horrific
violence of Boko Haram,” Jackson-Lee said.
She added that the mission speaks in unity about
the crisis inflicted on the girls, women and their
families, who have been victimised by the terrorist
acts of Boko Haram, admonishing the Northeast and
Borno State to stop the Boko Haram violence.
“We also believe that it is important to focus on our
children and to acknowledge that more than 10
million children in Nigeria are not in school, many of
them are in the Northeast.
“It is time for economic empowerment and jobs to
take the children away from Boko Haram, put them
in schools and give the young people in the
Northeast and in Nigeria the opportunity for jobs
and education,” she noted.
The chairman of the humanitarian mission,
Stockman, said the group hopes to join Nigeria in a
comprehensive partnership to fight the crisis,
adding that it will extend a hand of friendship to
resolve the problem.
Frederica Wilson noted that the United States stand
with Nigeria in the fight against terrorism,
condemning the kidnap of about 270 school girls as
“outrageous”.
for the over 200 abducted secondary school girls in
Chibok, Borno State, it was learnt yesterday.
A US Congressional delegation made up of
Representatives Steve Stockman, Sheila Jackson-
Lee, Frederica Wilson and Lois Frankel, told a news
conference at the Unity Fountain in Abuja yesterday
that the US planned to take action.
Stockman said: “We get briefed by the military and
pending the approval of the government of Nigeria
and our government, we plan
to take action but I
don’t think we are going into specifics this time; it
was a classified briefing. We stand ready to help
and as soon as our government and Nigerian
government approve, we will take action.”
In the meantime, US is helping Nigeria to train its
military.
Jackson-Lee said: “What I want to say is that I
think what it is right now is to work with the
Nigerian government in training of the military. I
want to emphasise again here that we have come
all these miles to say that our Congress stands
ready to cooperate with the government in a manner
that is appropriate and with the consent of Nigerian
government. And I want to emphasise the need for
the Victims Relief Fund because there is so much
suffering going on by the young girls and the
families that have been touched by this violence.”
The delegation also urged the Nigeria government to
establish a National Victims Fund.
The fund, they argued, is necessary for the
rehabilitation of all those who have suffered from
the Boko Haram horrific violence.
Jackson-Lee said: “Collectively, we bring a wide
range of special knowledge to Nigeria and to focus
on a very important issue. We have come from the
United States to focus on bringing the girls back and
to focus on stopping the violence of Boko Haram.”
The group narrated the story of a woman who
watched her husband, a police officer, decapitated
by Boko Haram, her throat was slashed to a point
that she cannot speak and her arms were slashed.
She received no compensation.
“ So we come today with solution; we also come
today in asking the North east and Nigeria to
continue to accept international help and it is time
to find a way to contain the Boko Haram and save
the lives of so many,” she said.
The group urged the government of Nigeria to
establish a National Victims Fund, for “all of the
victims who have suffered at the hands of Boko
Haram, for the girls who are still missing, for the
girls who escaped, for their families, for the father
who spoke to us about his missing daughter, and
the victims who have perished and their families.
They need compensation.
“We thank President Obama and the United States
Congress for its very keen interest on the question
of bringing the girls back, and stopping the horrific
violence of Boko Haram,” Jackson-Lee said.
She added that the mission speaks in unity about
the crisis inflicted on the girls, women and their
families, who have been victimised by the terrorist
acts of Boko Haram, admonishing the Northeast and
Borno State to stop the Boko Haram violence.
“We also believe that it is important to focus on our
children and to acknowledge that more than 10
million children in Nigeria are not in school, many of
them are in the Northeast.
“It is time for economic empowerment and jobs to
take the children away from Boko Haram, put them
in schools and give the young people in the
Northeast and in Nigeria the opportunity for jobs
and education,” she noted.
The chairman of the humanitarian mission,
Stockman, said the group hopes to join Nigeria in a
comprehensive partnership to fight the crisis,
adding that it will extend a hand of friendship to
resolve the problem.
Frederica Wilson noted that the United States stand
with Nigeria in the fight against terrorism,
condemning the kidnap of about 270 school girls as
“outrageous”.
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