By Shibayan Dyep Kaza
Nigeria’s Abuja (AP) According to the Pentagon on Wednesday, the U.S. State Department authorized a potential $346 million arms deal with Nigeria to enhance security in the sub-Saharan nation.
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According to a statement from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, Congress was informed and would have to authorize the sale. The organization is a branch of the Department of Defense that manages defense equipment transfers and offers technical help.
Bombs, rockets, and ammunition are among the weaponry that Nigeria has sought.
The northeast of Nigeria has been rocked by a revival of attacks by Boko Haram, the country’s own extremist organization. In order to enforce its extreme interpretation of Islamic law and combat Western education, the group turned to violence in 2009. Despite the military’s claims of success against them, Islamic extremists have assaulted civilian villages, bombed roadways, and overrun military installations on multiple occasions in recent months, igniting fears of a potential return to the height of insecurity during the Boko Haram era.
According to the U.N., the violence has displaced over 2 million people in the northeastern part of Nigeria and claimed over 35,000 civilian lives. It has also expanded into the country’s northern neighbors.
Africa’s most populous nation faces significant security issues in the north-central and northwest regions, where hundreds have been murdered and injured in recent months, in addition to the insurgency in the northeast.
According to the Pentagon on Wednesday, the planned sale will increase Nigeria’s capacity to combat illicit trade in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea and to meet present and future threats through operations against terrorist groups. This planned transaction will not have a negative effect on U.S. defense readiness.
Nigeria has purchased military hardware from the United States multiple times in the last ten years. Most recently, in 2022, the United States authorized a weapons deal of $997 million.
