Former President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev Samson Ayokunle, has described as belated, a claim by United States Congressman Scott Perry that the US Agency for International Development (USAID) funded terrorist organisations, including Boko Haram.
USAID funding: Rev. Ayokunle calls for probe
Legit.ng recalls that recently, a US congressman, Scott Perry, claimed that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded terrorist organisations, including Boko Haram, to the tune of $697 million annually.
Reacting, the cleric said on the Friday edition of Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a socio-political programme aired on Channels Television, said:
“We are already suspecting for long because those days when President (Goodluck) Jonathan was pleading with the United States of America, they refused to do that. That was during the time of President (Barack) Obama, claiming that our military will not be cautious enough in the use of ammunition.”
Speaking further, Ayokunle said CAN had raised the alarm that terrorist organisations in Nigeria have foreign sponsors and a steady supply of cash and arms but the Christian body was misinterpreted.
“Now, it is coming out. USAID is now alleged to be behind the sponsorship of Boko Haram in Nigeria,” he said.
USAID: FG told to block sources funding terrorism
Buttressing his point, the former CAN chairman said the US congressman’s allegations should not be swept under the carpet.
“I will not take Scott Perry for granted because he didn’t talk about Nigeria alone; he talked about the same organisation USAID being used in the same way in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and other places.”
Additionally, Ayokunle faulted the poor intelligence of the security agencies, claiming they failed to identify the source of terror funding till the revelation by the US congressman.
“All the security agencies that we have – Customs and Immigration – how can they be easily beaten without apprehending this monumental danger coming upon our nation? The ammunition that our military and police don’t have, these people have them.
“Even amidst them also, I suspect that insincere people are there because there is no way these terrorists will be receiving these things that they won’t know,” he said.
He asked the Federal Government to probe the claim by the US congressman and block all other sources of terror funding.
“The Nigerian government should investigate how a foreign organisation is distributing money and weapons to a terrorist group in Nigeria and nobody discovered that. It means their roof is leaking,” he said.
Expert reacts to US lawmaker’s controversial claim
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Sadeeq Shehu, a top Nigerian security expert, dismissed Perry’s claim, arguing that there is no substantial evidence to back it up.
Shehu expressed scepticism about the repeated narrative that foreign countries, including the US, France, and the UK, are behind Boko Haram’s operations in Nigeria
Shehu emphasised that while the US is capable of influencing events in other nations when it serves its interests, this particular claim lacks credibility.
