US warns Nigeria that military assistance may be revoked over human rights abuses

WASHINGTON has reiterated that it may stop supplying Nigeria with military assistance if the federal government continues to abuse human rights using weapons supplied by the US to crack down on political opposition.

During a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in Aso Rock, earlier in the week, Anthony Blinken the US secretary of state, warned that if the rights violations persisted, Washington might evoke the Leahy Law. This would deny Nigeria access to hardware, which includes arms and other military equipment to fight terrorism and other forms of criminal activities.

In addition, he also urged the federal and Lagos State governments to sanction any individuals found to have violated human rights during the October 2020 #EndSARS protests. He added that the US anticipated the response of the federal and Lagos State governments to the findings of the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution for Victims of SARS Related Abuses and Other Matters.

An eight-man panel led by retired Justice Doris Okuwobi had submitted a 309-page report to Governor Babajide Sanwoolu, on Monday, indicting soldiers and police for killing peaceful protesters at Lekki toll gate on October 20, 2020. Describing the Lekki toll gate incident as a massacre, the panel report stated that at least nine persons were killed by security agents at the scene and listed 48 names as casualties, including 22 protesters, who sustained gunshot injuries and 15 others allegedly assaulted by soldiers and police.

On Friday, Mr Blinken met with members of civil society bodies in Abuja, reiterating the US demand for justice. Mr Blinken warned that the  Leahy Law is an American rights ordinance that prohibits the US government from providing military assistance to foreign security force units that violate human rights with impunity.

Mr Blinken said: “As I said, the report itself, done by the state government but then once it’s out, for there to actually be action on the basis of the report, action as necessary by the states, action by the federal government and action in the sense of two things. First, making sure that based on what is documented to have happened, it won’t happen again, so there may be reforms that are necessary and building or rebuilding trust between the citizens and the security services, between citizens and the state. 

 “Second is accountability.  If there are individuals that, as it emerges from this report, who are responsible for committing abuses, there has to be accountability in terms of those individuals."

A petition by rights groups including Amnesty International had recently forced the US Congress to call for the stoppage of weapons sales to Nigeria. Mr Blinken explained that the assistance being given to the Nigerian military was not only hardware but training to tackle terrorism and criminal activities.