Jonathan seeks more US help to fight Boko Haram

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan is appealing to the United States for greater assistance in the fight against Boko Haram Islamists, according to the Wall Street Journal.

“Are they not fighting ISIS? Why can’t they come to Nigeria?” Jonathan told the newspaper in an interview published Friday, referring to the Islamic State group.

“They are our friends. If Nigeria has a problem, then I expect the US to come and assist us.”

Jonathan said Boko Haram militants, who have taken over swathes of territory in northeast Nigeria, have received “training and funds” from the Islamic State jihadists, based in Iraq and Syria.

Jonathan said he has requested combat soldiers and military advisers from Washington since early 2014, according to the newspaper.

US involvement in Nigeria has been fraught, with Washington accusing Nigeria’s military of being in denial about the threat posed by Boko Haram, which has captured dozens of towns in the last six months.

The United States has also been critical of the Nigerian government’s slow response to the mass abduction of more than 200 girls from the town of Chibok in April last year.

US drones were deployed and the Pentagon dispatched intelligence and surveillance specialists in the hope of finding the kidnapped teenagers still being held but to no avail.

But Nigeria’s ambassador to Washington has accused the United States of failing to provide the weaponry required to end the fighting and Abuja also ended a US training program for soldiers to take on the militants.

On a visit to Nigeria in January, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Washington was “prepared to do more” to help Nigeria counter the Boko Haram insurgency, which has claimed some 13,000 lives.