Boko Haram : Trump To Sell $600m Fighter Planes To Nigeria

The United States government is working on a $600 million deal to permit the sale of a dozen highly sophisticated turbo-prop fighter planes to Nigeria to bolster its efforts at curbing Islamic terrorists, especially Boko Haram.

The White House is expected within the next few weeks to formally notify Congress about the  decision to sell 12 Embraer A-29 Super Tucano aircraft equipped with special targeting and surveillance equipment to Nigeria.

The deal, initiated by former US president, Barrack Obama, is to enable Nigeria counter terrorism, particularly in close aerial reconnaissance and support  but it did not materialize because of alleged human rights violations by Nigerian troops.

Although Nigeria is considered in many quarters as a close and important ally and economic partner of the US, its tactics in tackling insurgency have been criticized by sections of the international community. Amnesty International for instance, has on many occasions come down heavily on the Nigerian security forces for what it sees as their penchant for extra-judicial killings and targeting civilians. The Nigerian Army has however always denied the accusations.

A top democrat on the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Ben Cardin, had in February said he was wary of the proposed deal because of what he described as the Nigerian military’s  impunity but he seems to have recently soft- pedalled.

“Ultimately we hope that the sale goes forward. But there is progress that needs to be made in protecting the lives of the civilian population,” Senator Cardin said early this week.