Former President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev Samson Ayokunle, has described as belated, a claim by United States Congressman Scott Perry that the US Agency for International Development (USAID) funded terrorist organisations, including Boko Haram.
“I will blame the international community, especially the United States Congress”, the cleric said on the Friday edition of Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a socio-political programme aired on Channels Television.
Why are they coming out now if they already knew this truth? Is it still far too late? Why did they permit the conduct of this kind in Nigeria?
We are already suspecting for a while because they refused to do that when President (Goodluck) Jonathan was fighting with the United States of America. That was during the time of President (Barack) Obama, claiming that our military will not be cautious enough in the use of ammunition. “
Ayokunle claimed that CAN had raised the alarm that terrorist organizations in Nigeria had regular supply of cash and weapons and had foreign sponsors, but that the Christian organization had been misinterpreted.
” Now, it is coming out. He claimed that USAID is now alleged to be behind Boko Haram’s sponsorship in Nigeria.
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The former CAN chair said the US congressman’s allegations should not be swept under the carpet.
” I will not take Scott Perry for granted because he didn’t talk about Nigeria alone, he talked about the same organisation USAID being used in the same way in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and other places
“Is it possible for him to be very irrational and speak with his mouth shut?” You can’t take such a caliber of individual for granted. What justification does the congressman use to justify his country’s organization? he asked.
Ayokunle criticized the security services’ lack of intelligence, claiming they had not discovered the source of terrorist funding until the US congressman made the revelation.
How can Customs and Immigration, the two security agencies that we have, be easily defeated without recognizing the enormous danger looming over our country? These people have the ammunition that our military and police do not.
There are no guarantees that these terrorists will be receiving these things they won’t know, he said, “even amidst them also, I suspect that insincere people are there.”
He demanded that the US Congressman’s claim be investigated by the government and that all other sources of funding for terrorism be blocked.
No one in Nigeria has found that the Nigerian government should look into how a foreign organization is distributing weapons and money to a terrorist group. It means their roof is leaking.
“It’s not too late, this war must be brought to an end. And every source of funding beyond that of USAID must be investigated, and blocked, henceforth. Enough is enough”, he said.
Meanwhile, the US Congressman’s claim against USAID has been brought before the Nigerian Senate. Richard Mills, the US ambassador to Nigeria, refuted the claim that USAID provided funding for Boko Haram or other insurgent organizations.
Source: Channels TV
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