The United States government will assist the Multinational Joint Task Force fighting Boko Haram with a sum of $5 million, not $5 billion as reported by the Nigerian media.
The U.S. assistant secretary, Bureau of African Affairs, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, made the clarification on Tuesday.
The America Embassy, while making the clarification, said “yesterday, Monday, June 15, members of the U.S government delegation to the African Union Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, briefed reporters on the range of U.S. engagement in Africa.
“It was widely reported that the United States is offering $5 billion to the Multinational Joint Task Force to fight Boko Haram. The U.S. Embassy wishes to clarify that the amount is $5 million.”
It further quoted Thomas-Greenfield’s response to the question asked by a reporter from The Punch newspaper, “We have been working with Nigeria, as well as the other countries in the region, to address their concerns about Boko Haram, because we don’t see this as just a Nigeria problem.
“And with the new government, we are having discussions with them on how we might bolster our support. That said, we have already been working with them on providing information, providing some training and support, and we look, with this new administration, to see how we might increase the level of support that we are providing to Nigeria. At the same time, we have just announced since I have been here at the AU, a $5 million contribution to the Multinational Task Force.”
#
