Nigeria ‘using UK aid to persecute political opposition rather than tackling Boko Haram’

HUNDREDS of millions of pounds of British foreign aid given to Nigeria to help combat Boko Haram terrorists is being used to persecute opposition politicians, it has been claimed. Britain has committed to giving £860 million in foreign aid to Nigeria to help its fight against Boko Haram, which has been responsible for a spate of outrages, including the kidnapping of hundreds of Nigerian schoolgirls.

But Western officials have raised concerns that President Muhammadu Buhari’s government is misusing the funds to persecute political opponents.

A retired major-general who previously headed a military dictatorship, Mr Buhari, 73, came to power again last July. Since then a number of prominent members of the former ruling People’s Democratic Party have been arrested and imprisoned without charge, including the party’s official spokesman.

Mr Buhari’s pledged during last year’s general election campaign that he would make it a priority to tackle Boko Haram, which boasts of its links with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) and is reported to be training kidnapped children to become suicide bombers, but he has been accused of failing to take effective action.

“This is a scandal in the making,” said one senior US official. “There is no doubt the growing strength of Boko Haram is because President Buhari is far more interested in settling scores with his political opponents than concentrating his energy on defeating terrorists.”