CITIZENS COMPASS— The United States yesterday, said Nigeria remains a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) owing to incessant attacks on Christians.
The United States said that Nigeria has not made sufficient progress in such attacks.
Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Frank Garcia, made the position known during a congressional hearing on violence in Nigeria, where he responded to questions from US Congressman Riley Moore.
Moore questioned the Nigerian government’s efforts to dismantle militia strongholds and kidnapping camps across the Middle Belt, particularly in Benue and Plateau states.
He asked what concrete operations had been carried out since US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Allison Hooker, raised concerns in August about the pace of Nigeria’s response to the attacks.
The congressman also demanded an explanation for the exclusion of Benue and Plateau from the 10 states covered by Nigeria’s new forest guard initiative, despite the persistent violence in the two states.
He further pointed out that 1,000 presidentially approved forest guards for Plateau State had yet to be deployed.
Moore argued that Nigeria had not done enough to address the violence and warned against removing the country from the CPC list.
“Before you answer that, we cannot take this CPC designation off of this country. They have not done enough,” he said.
Responding, Garcia agreed that progress had been inadequate but maintained that the Nigerian government was taking steps to address the concerns raised by Washington.
He, however, admitted that the measures had yet to produce the desired results.
“I think we would agree, as Under Secretary Hooker stated, after our CPC meeting that progress has not been there, but that doesn’t mean that Nigeria is dismissing concerns, and it doesn’t mean that they’re not taking actions, but it does mean that it hasn’t had an had an impact to this point,” Garcia said.
He identified the establishment of the US-Nigeria Joint Working Group as an important step towards ensuring that the Nigerian government is held accountable for its commitments.
According to him, the group provides a framework for monitoring the country’s promises and assessing whether the measures being implemented are producing results.
Garcia also acknowledged US-supported counterterrorism operations in the Lake Chad Basin but noted that such efforts had not necessarily addressed the activities of Fulani militants operating across the Middle Belt.
He described Nigeria’s current response as one still focused on building capacity, warning that the available security resources had not been deployed effectively or quickly enough.
“I would have to characterise the Nigerians’ placement at this point as in building capacity. And that capacity is not deployed, is not being effective yet, and is not moving fast enough, as far as I’m concerned. But we do see a seriousness, and a deployment underway with the Nigerian government,” he said.
