The Donald Trump administration is
expected to reveal to lawmakers its five-year plan to address the Boko
Haram rebellion in North-east Nigeria and the Lake Chad region.
This is pursuant to a law signed by former U.S. President Barack Obama
last December. The law arose from a bill proposed by Congresswoman
Fredericka Wilson, reported the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Monday.
Indication that the Trump administration
will unveil its Boko Haram plan was contained in a notification letter
addressed to the congresswoman by the U.S. Department of State.
Last month, U.S. Senator Susan Collins
and Wilson led a bipartisan group of 50 members of Congress in writing
to the U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defence James
Mattis, and Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats, requesting
an update on their efforts to counter Boko Haram.
In December 2016, legislation introduced
by Collins and Wilson was signed into law requiring the U.S. government
to develop a comprehensive plan to help the Nigerian government and its
partners combat Boko Haram and address the legitimate concerns of
affected, vulnerable populations.
Collins and Wilson’s legislation, which
responded to the terrorist organisation’s kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls
in Nigeria in 2014, directs the Secretary of State, Secretary of
Defence, and the Director of National Intelligence to submit to Congress
a five-year anti-Boko Haram strategy by June 12, 2017.
“While we were encouraged by the release
of 82 of the Chibok schoolgirls…, it is imperative that we remember
that many of the girls remain in captivity along with untold hundreds of
other women, men, and children who have been kidnapped by Boko Haram,”
Collins and Wilson wrote to members of the administration.
“…We look forward to receiving an update
on your efforts to develop an anti-Boko Haram strategy and beginning
the process of dismantling Boko Haram and reuniting all of the Chibok
schoolgirls with their families.”
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