The Senate has asked the National Security Adviser, the head of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) and the Department of State Services (DSS) to appear before it over allegations of funding of terrorist group Boko Haram by the USAID.
The call for an urgent investigation into allegations that international organisations, including the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), may be funding terrorist groups like Boko Haram followed a motion raised by Senator Ali Ndume on the urgent need to probe the matter.
During the plenary, lawmakers expressed concerns over a viral video of U.S. Congressman Scott Perry, a Republican representing Pennsylvania, who alleged at a congressional hearing that USAID has been involved in financing terrorist activities across the world, including Boko Haram.
Ndume noted that this claim comes shortly after the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, raised alarm that terrorist groups in the country were receiving sponsorship and training from international organisations.
This comes a few days after the US congressman accused the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) of funding global terrorist groups like Islamic State and al-Qaeda, including their local affiliates such as Boko Haram in Nigeria.
During the inaugural session of an advisory body created by President Donald Trump to cut US government spending, Perry, last week, said the USAID’s annual budget of $697 million, including cash shipments to madrasas (Islamic schools), has inadvertently funded terrorist training camps and extremist groups.
The lawmaker is a member of Trump’s Republican Party, and critics have accused the American president of trying to damage the integrity of institutions like the USAID and end their operations.
In January, Trump suspended all foreign aid for 90 days, explaining that the pause was to determine whether using those funds aligned with America’s interests.
