People & Money

US Congress Members Seek to Stop a $1 Billion Weapons Deal with Nigeria

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee have urged President Joe Biden to halt a proposed $1 billion arms sale to Nigeria in light of recent Reuters reports detailing the Nigerian military’s involvement in targeted killings of children and an illegal abortion program. 

The call was made during the committee seating on Wednesday by Democrat congresswoman, Sara Jacobs of California and Republican congressman Chris Smith of New Jersey, who are both members of the subcommittee on Africa. In addition, they have requested a review of security assistance and cooperation programs with Nigeria, which includes an evaluation of the potential risks of civilian casualties and abuses stemming from the proposed arms sale.

“We write to express our concern with current U.S. policy on and military support to Nigeria,” they noted. 

During the US weapons sale to Nigeria, they have always coupled the aid with training that prioritizes adherence to international law. This is evidenced by the different regulations that guided the sale of the Super Tucano jets to Nigeria. Nonetheless, in their letter, the congress members pointed out that humanitarian workers have reported that Nigeria’s security forces  “appear to have a limited understanding of humanitarian law and tools for effective engagement with local populations.”

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The Congress members also noted in their letter that despite the aid provided by Washington thus far, it has not significantly reduced the 14-year-long conflict between the Nigerian military and Islamist insurgents in the country’s northeast. 

“Therefore, we believe continuing to move forward with the nearly $1 billion arms sale would be highly inappropriate and we urge the Administration to rescind it,” they noted. 

In April, the largest-ever weapons sale and other forms of military assistance were approved by the U.S. State Department for Nigeria, after concerns about other human rights violations had caused lawmakers on both sides of the political spectrum to temporarily halt the deal. 

This request for a review by Sara Jacobs and Chris Smith is the second to come from Congress since the Reuters report. In December 2022, the highest-ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Jim Risch, requested a review of U.S. security assistance and cooperation programs in Nigeria. He also requested an investigation into the possible use of sanctions in response to alleged abuses.

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He noted in his letter, “I look forward to hearing more about the (State) Department’s planned response to the serious and abhorrent allegations levied against a long-standing beneficiary of U.S. security assistance and cooperation which, if deemed credible, have done irreparable harm to a generation of Nigerian citizens and to U.S. credibility in the region.”

In December 2022, Reuters ran a report on the Nigerian military alleging that since 2013, the Nigerian military conducted a secret abortion program in the Northeast, aborting up to 10,000 pregnancies. According to the report, the girls in the program were victims of rape by Boko Haram members. 

While the military denied the allegations, the Nigerian defense ministry has agreed to subject itself to an investigation by the Nigerian Human Rights Commission (NHRC). 

David Olujinmi

David Olujinmi studies Engineering but his true passion is research and analysis. He writes about finance, particularly the capital market, investment banking, and asset management. More »

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