United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations Samantha Power arrives here Thursday for a two-day visit to discuss the growing threat which the Boko Haram Islamist militants pose to Nigeria.
The US Embassy in Abuja said in a statement here Tuesday that Power was also visiting Cameroon and Chad between April 16 and 20 to underscore the rising danger the insurgents posed to the Lake Chad Basin region.
“Boko Haram is one of the deadliest terrorist groups in the world. It poses an acute threat to civilians across the Lake Chad Basin, and the group’s increasing lethality and relationship with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, or Daesh) are cause for alarm,” the embassy said.
The statement also noted with sadness the second anniversary of the kidnapping of the Chibok girls by the Boko Haram in Borno State in northeastern Nigeria and stressed the need to work with partners in the region to develop a comprehensive counter-Boko Haram effort.
It stated that this included a more co-ordinated military campaign, improved humanitarian access and response, a well-resourced stabilization and governance strategy.
Power will have discussions with the Nigerian leadership and civil society in Abuja before traveling to the northeast to visit a settlement camp for civilians displaced by Boko Haram’s violence.
Power, according to the statement, will also host a town hall meeting with students and participate in a Peace Through Sports event with young Nigerians.
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