Abductions: US prepared to support Nigeria, official declares

Michael Gonzales, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of African Affairs, has disclosed that Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province were not associated with the epidemic of abductions taking place in Niger, Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna States, and in other regions of the North-West.

Even though Boko Haram has astutely asserted credit for a few of these abductions in the past, Gonzales declared that there was no evidence that the terrorists were engaged with these.

Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of African Affairs, Michael Gonzales

The official, who said the United States was disturbed by the kidnappings of school children, stated that the US was prepared to offer proper support to the Federal Government, if asked to do so. He said that the crime-related activity was executed by bandits who were driven by money and other economic deliberations.

Rescued Jangebe schoolgirls

This is as an undefined number of female students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanism in the Mando Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State were kidnapped on Friday morning by unidentified gunmen.

Gonzales announced this over the phone briefing with journalists attended by John Godfrey, the acting Coordinator for Counterterrorism and acting Special Envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS on Thursday.

The acting Coordinator for Counterterrorism and acting Special Envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, John Godfrey

The briefing transcript was made accessible to our journalist in Abuja.

Replying to a question on the mass kidnappings in the nation, Gonzales stated, “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 stated that America could help to develop the competencies of the security forces to better address the internal security threats.

He said, “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.”

Remarking on the US counter-terrorism operations in West Africa, Godfrey revealed that the US has collaborated intimately with France and other associates in a mutual effort to tackle instability in the sub-region.

Godfrey stated, “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 United States 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.”