• How America’s Leahy Act hampers anti-terror efforts – US Rep Smith
• Trump can’t save Nigeria, only Nigerians can – Nwachukwu
The United States has offered to cooperate with Nigeria in the fight against terrorism.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement yesterday that Washington was willing to work with Abuja “to deter and degrade the terrorists that threaten the United States.”
The statement came following a meeting between Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth and National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu in Washington in the aftermath of the recent classification of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern by President Donald Trump and his threat to attack Nigeria for what he called genocide against Christians.
Hegseth at the meeting asked the federal government to “take both urgent and enduring action to stop violence against Christians.”
He said in a post on X that America’s Department of War “is working aggressively with Nigeria” to end the alleged persecution of Christians.
Ribadu was at the head of a high powered delegation that also included Attorney General of the Federation and Justice Minister Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Chief of Defence Staff, General Olufemi Oluyede and Police Inspector General Kayode Egbetokun.
On Wednesday, the team met with Rep Riley Moore who, on November 7, introduced a resolution in the house “condemning the ongoing persecution of Christians in Nigeria and supporting President Trump’s announcement to officially designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern”.
On Thursday, the House held a hearing on Nigeria where chairman of the House’s Sub Committee on Africa Chris Smith called for a review of the Leahy law’s restrictions as they apply to Nigeria.
The Law restricts Nigeria’s deployment of the A-29 Super Tucano aircraft which were bought from the US under the Buhari administration.
One of the restrictions is that the aircraft cannot be deployed beyond the North East.
Another is that they can only be used against terrorists and insurgents, and not bandits.
This prompted the service chiefs at the time to ask the Senate and the House of Representatives to classify bandits as terrorists.
Nigeria says the restrictions are hampering the fight against terrorism.
Smith agreed with this view and said the restrictions be lifted in certain circumstances, such as when assisting Nigeria in its fight against groups like Boko Haram, and for better implementation of its human rights vetting process to support Nigerian forces in fighting terrorism.
The law, according to him, is intended to prevent U.S. support for human rights abusers, but its effectiveness depends on proper implementation.
He emphasised that the law allows for the creation of “clean” military units by identifying and separating human rights violators from those who are not guilty.
The late President Muhammadu Buhari, in a July 22 address in Washington, lashed out at US laws that ban the sale of weapons to foreign militaries accused of human rights violations, saying such restrictions would only aid the insurgency.
“Unwittingly, and I dare say unintentionally, the application of the Leahy Law amendment by the United States Government has aided and abetted the Boko Haram terrorists,” Buhari said in an address at the United States Institute of Peace that was co-hosted by the Atlantic Council.
The “blanket application” of the Leahy laws on the grounds of “unproven allegations” of human rights violations by Nigerian security forces, he said, had denied his military access to the appropriate weapons to fight the militants.
“In the face of abduction of innocent schoolgirls … indiscriminate bombings of civilians… our forces have remained largely impotent because they do not possess the appropriate weapons and technology, which we could have had had the so-called human rights violations not been an obstacle,” he said.
“You want to train a battalion of men to go and counter terrorism… but you don’t want us to buy equipment from you,” a former chief of Defence Intelligence Rear Admiral Gabriel E. Okoi (rtd) was also quoted as saying at a meeting hosted by the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center.
“The US is doing its best, but the Leahy Law is hindering our cooperation.
“Our friends disappointed us. We could not get the arms we needed, nor could we get the ammunition.”
How my five children were killed —Victim of Yelwata attack at US Congress
During the US Congress hearing on Thursday, a survivor of the Yelwata attack in Benue State, Msurshima Apeh recounted how she watched in anguish the killing of her five children by the armed men who stormed the camp where hundreds of displaced families had been sleeping.
“When we went to sleep that night around 9 pm, the terrorists attacked us where we were sleeping. We were locked inside the camp, Yelwata, and they were butchering them with cutlasses and shooting guns as well,” she said.
“When the torture had finished at some point in time, they poured petrol on the building and the majority of them were set ablaze,” she said virtually from her base in Benue State.
She had climbed a tree to save her life while her children were killed not far away from where she hid.
Her words: “In the course of this action, I saw a tree when I lifted my eyes. I raised my hands on the tree and climbed up where I was able to hide myself. My five children that I left below were crying, and in my presence, they were being slaughtered by the terrorists.”
She said she later fled into the bush before rescue workers found her and moved her to safety.
“I ran out into the bush at some point, and those who came for rescue will now bring me out of that place at some point, and I was able to witness the whole drama. When the people came, we were now relocated to a new camp,” the witness said.
The Yelwata attack occurred in June 2025 in the Guma Local Government Area of Benue State. Reports estimated the death toll at over 100 to 200 people, while more than 3,000 people were displaced. Many survivors were moved to camps in Nasarawa State.
My remarks on genocide misunderstood – Alia
Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia has explained that his remarks at a function organized by the National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, on 19th, October, 2025 in Abuja were misunderstood and misinterpreted.
The statement, according to information and Orientation Commissioner Peter Egbodo, was neither an attempt to downplay the painful realities on ground nor a dismissal of the grief of families who have lost their loved ones.
“His Excellency is fully aware of the weight of every life lost in Benue State, and he continues to treat the security challenges confronting the State with the urgency and seriousness they demand,” the commissioner said.
He added: “It is important to emphasize that the Governor’s clarification that the killings should not be defined or framed purely along religious line, was made in the interest of accurate reporting, responsible public discourse, and effective response.
“Misdiagnosing the nature of the crisis may hinder the multi-sectoral solutions already being implemented.
“What His Excellency sought to communicate is that the conflict is complex, involving criminality, land-use tensions, and targeted acts of violence that require strategic, intelligence-driven interventions beyond religious categorization.
“His position does not, in any way, make the Government indifferent to the pain of Christian communities, or any other community affected by these heinous attacks.
“On the contrary, the Governor remains profoundly concerned about the safety and dignity of all residents Christians, Muslims, traditional believers, and every law-abiding citizen.”
Trump can’t save Nigeria, only Nigerians can — Former Foreign Affairs Minister
A former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maj.-Gen. Ike Omar Sanda Nwachukwu (rtd), said yesterday that only Nigerians can resolve their country’s current insecurity challenges, and not external forces like the United States, despite President Donald Trump’s threat to involve America’s military to combat terrorism in Nigeria.
Nwachukwu spoke in Abuja, at the launch of a book “The Hidden Treasures in the Niger Delta”, written by Deacon Chris Iyovwaye,
Trump had threatened U.S. military intervention in Nigeria over alleged genocide against Christians.
Nwachukwu said Nigerians’ unwavering support for the country’s armed forces was one of the most important elements needed to end insecurity.
He said: “No other country can save us except ourselves. President Trump could well be doing what he’s doing to help us, to save our country, but he can’t save Nigeria, but we Nigerians will save our country, with their support, of course. And God bless Nigeria.
“Any time I read or hear news that our soldiers have been killed and our children have been kidnapped and so on and so forth, I want to tell you, it’s not because Nigerian soldiers are cowards.
“We showed how courageous we are in the Second World War. We did in Liberia. We did with our own country here, when we recovered Nigeria from breaking up between 1966 and 1970. We were in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Congo, Tanzania, Mozambique, and in the Maldives and so on.
“If we can do it to those areas, we can save our country. Support our military men for and women. Give them the resources, give them the intelligence, and they would take away all this banditry and all this terrorism in no time.”
Nwachukwu, who was also a military Governor of Imo State, said that as retired officer who had led men to battles, he knew that Nigerian soldiers are not cowards, but brave and courageous men.
“They can deal with this thing. They can deal with this thing. So please support them to do so.
“Give them permission, give them the resources, and they will put to bed terrorism and insurgency in our country,” he said.
In his remarks, former President Goodluck Jonathan, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Mike Oghiadhome, said there was the need to harness the resource in the Niger Delta for proper fiscal development.
He said there was the need for the Governors of the States in the Niger Delta region to take concrete actions for the development of the region.
“Our advice on this occasion is to send a message to them that there is a need for action,” Jonathan said.
