Emmanuel Ogebe, who successfully led the campaign for the designation of Boko Haram Terrorists (BHT) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) in November 2013, has slammed Congressman Scott Perry over his claims that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was used to fund the terror group, saying that his statement is endangering the lives of Americans living in Nigeria.
Stating that the claims “irresponsibly jeopardizes the security of American diplomats and their families, local Christians and aid workers in Nigeria,” Ogebe said in a letter to Congressman Perry that his statement was also “a slap in the face to several of your House colleagues who have courageously traveled with me on bipartisan fact finding CODELs visiting victims of persecution and Boko Haram terrorism.”
The full letter by Ogebe, who is also the Managing Partner of US Nigeria Law Group, titled ‘Dear Rep Scott Perry’ reads: “Your statement claiming USAID funds Boko Haram terrorists has sent shock waves through Nigeria and elicited targeting of innocent Christians and aid workers because of your baseless claims.
“To make matters worse, you have further endangered hundreds of American diplomats in one of the largest U.S. embassies in the world, many of whom already lost their jobs due to the vampiric shutdown by lawless non-state actors in DC.
“You may not know this but I evacuated, along with hundreds of American diplomats from Nigeria, after a bomb was planted in a US Embassy compound in Abuja by Islamist terrorists.
“They and their families were internationally displaced for months before returning in early 2023 to Nigeria.
“For you to make such false and unfounded allegations, right after Elon Musk’s admission that USAID’s $50 million condoms used for bombings by Hamas terrorists was untrue, irresponsibly jeopardizes the security of American diplomats and their families, local Christians and aid workers in Nigeria.
“It also a slap in the face to several of your house colleagues who have courageously traveled with me on bipartisan fact finding CODELs visiting victims of persecution and Boko Haram terrorism.
“I hope you will quickly repudiate your false claim regarding Boko Haram before anyone gets hurt. No political propaganda or showboating is worth putting Americans lives at risk abroad for a lie.”
(Illustration picture shows Chairman Human Rights Committee Republican Congressman Chris Smith with International human rights lawyer Emmanuel Ogebe (right) and State legislators in Jos during a fact finding visit to Nigeria)
