The United States (U.S.) says it is disgusted with the spate of abductions especially in Northern Nigeria, saying that it is ready to provide appropriate support to the Federal Government, if requested to do so.
Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of African Affairs, Mr Michael Gonzales, who stated the U.S. position, however said that Boko Haram/Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) were not involved in the spate of abductions going on in Niger, Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna and other parts of Northwest and Northcentral regions of the country.
Gonzales said that although Boko Haram/ISWAP has “opportunistically” claimed credit for several of these kidnappings in the past, there was no indication that the terrorists were involved in any of them. He explained that the criminal abductions were being carried out by bandits who were motivated by money and other economic considerations.
He spoke as an unspecified number of female students of Federal College of Forestry Mechanism, Mando, Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State were abducted on Friday morning by unknown gunmen.
Mostly affected in the abduction were female students, the Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Mr. Samuel Aruwan, confirmed the incident and said an investigation is ongoing.
The U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of African Affairs spoke at a telephonic briefing with journalists on Thursday, which was attended by the acting Coordinator for Counterterrorism and acting Special Envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, John Godfrey.
According to a transcript of the briefing released by the U.S. Embassy in Abuja, Gonzales stated, in answer to a question,“Frankly, we’re disgusted by this pattern of mass abductions of school kids. I can think of nothing more abhorrent. And our condolences go out to the individuals affected and their families.
“But as the questioner poses, this certainly appears by all indications to be a dynamic stemming from criminal gangs motivated by monetary and economic factors. There’s no indication that terrorists, whether Boko Haram or ISIS-West Africa, are involved in these. Although I would note that Boko Haram has opportunistically claimed credit for several of these kidnappings in the northwest in the past.’’
The senior official noted that America could help in developing the capabilities of the security forces to better respond to internal security threats.
He added, “Longer term, we seek to help develop the capabilities of the Nigerian security services in order for them to adequately respond to the internal threats that the country faces. Again, I think the challenges are many in Nigeria.
“And we are encouraged by President Buhari’s recent replacement of all of the security-sector chiefs and looking forward to partnering with him and continuing to build the capacity of the Nigerian military in order to be able to better protect and defend their people.’’
Commenting on the US counter-terrorism operations in West Africa, Godfrey disclosed that the US has partnered very closely with France and other allies in a multilateral effort to address the drivers of instability in the sub-region
The Special Envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS said, “The efforts we’ve made in West Africa Sahel space are certainly not limited to counterterrorism or military efforts, although those are certainly some of what we do. It’s a more holistic effort than that which encompasses lines of effort under the U.S. Agency for International Development, other bureaus of the Department of State that do capacity-building and assistance across a range of civilian lines of effort.’
