The United States has defended its refusal
to sell cobra helicopters to Nigeria, saying the Government is free to
buy fighter jets from any other country.
“Nigeria has purchased helicopters that originated in
countries other than the US and nothing in our decision prevents Nigeria
from obtaining weapons and equipment from other sources,” its State
Department spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, said on Wednesday.
Psaki was responding to questions from journalists on the
allegations by the Nigerian Ambassador to the US, Prof. Adebowale
Adefuye, that Washington declined to sell lethal arms to Nigeria.
Adefuye had also told members of the Council on Foreign
Relations that Washington was not doing enough to assist Nigeria in
combating the Boko Haram insurgency in North-East zone of the country.
He said, “The U.S. government has up till today refused to grant Nigeria’s request to purchase lethal equipment that would have brought down the terrorists within a short time on the basis of the allegations that Nigeria’s defence forces have been violating human rights of Boko Haram suspects when captured or arrested.
“We find it difficult to understand how and why, in spite of the U.S. presence in Nigeria, with their sophisticated military technology, Boko Haram should be expanding and becoming more deadly.”
But Psaki said that the US refused to sell the helicopters to Nigeria due to concerns about the ability of the military to use and maintain them.
The cobra is a combat aircraft with the ability to climb at
the rate of 8.2metres per second. It is equipped with a 20 mm M197
3-barrelled Gatling cannon in the A/A49E-7 turret (750 rounds ammo
capacity).
Psaki said there were ongoing concerns about the Nigerian
military’s protection of civilians when conducting military operations,
adding that these had been discussed with the Nigerian authorities.
The State Department spokeswoman added, “Earlier this year,
we denied the transfer of some cobra attack helicopters to Nigeria due
to concerns about Nigeria’s ability to use and maintain this type of
helicopter in its effort against Boko Haram and ongoing concerns about
the Nigerian military’s protection of civilians when conducting military
operations. We shared those concerns with Nigeria before this decision
and subsequent to it.
“We’ll continue to look for ways to deepen our cooperation
with Nigeria to help it acquire the systems and skills needed to restore
peace and security. But obviously, we’ve provided a great deal of
assistance over the past several months.”
Psaki said Washington would not have raised concerns on
human rights abuses by the Nigerian military “if we didn’t feel and
others didn’t feel that they were warranted.”