Richard Mills, the United States Ambassador to Nigeria, has denied allegations that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is funding Boko Haram.
After a meeting with the Nigeria Governors Forum in Abuja on Wednesday night, Mills underscored the United States’ stringent policies to prevent the diversion of American financial assistance to terrorist organizations.
On February 13, US Congressman Scott Perry accused USAID of indirectly financing groups such as Boko Haram, ISIS, and Al-Qaeda, which sparked a controversy. Perry claimed that $697 million annually was being squandered during a hearing of the Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency.
He stated:
“Who receives a portion of that money?” Is that name familiar to anyone in the room? Due to the fact that your money, $697 million annually, is in addition to the shipments of cash funds to terrorist training camps, Madrasas, ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, and ISIS Khorasan. That is the purpose of the funding.
National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu and the chiefs of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) were summoned by the Nigerian Senate to investigate Perry’s allegations.
Mills categorically denied the existence of any evidence of USAID funding being misappropriated.
In his own words:
“The United States is the strongest ally of Nigeria in its condemnation of Boko Haram’s violence and disregard for human life.” Since 2013, we have designated Boko Haram as a foreign terrorist organization, which enables us to apprehend and seize its members and prevents the group from transferring assets to the United States.
We collaborate with the Nigerian government in conducting investigations. I can guarantee that we have rigorous policies and procedures in place to prevent the diversion of USAID funding or any other US assistance, whether from the Department of Defence, the State Department, or USAID, to terrorist groups such as Boko Haram.
“There is absolutely no evidence of such diversion, and if we were to ever receive evidence that any program funding was being misused by Boko Haram, we would promptly conduct an investigation with our Nigerian partners.”
“The United States is in agreement with Nigeria in its desire to eradicate the scourge that Boko Haram represents.”