Tobi Soniyi in Abuja
The presidency has denied a report that it used aid from the United Kingdom for the war against terrorism in the North-east to prosecute the opposition.
The president’s media aide, Mr Garba Shehu, in a statement monday reacting to the London Telegraph’s article “Children Face Death by Starvation in Northern Nigeria”, said the allegation was baseless.
He said: “To state the fact: the UK government does not give development aid to the Nigerian administration for use in military operations against Boko Haram.”
According to him, where British military support – such as intelligence – is provided, it is precisely and only given for operations directly against Boko Haram.
Shehu also said the Nigerian government was in no position to divert aid monies used for emergency relief for refugees or IDP camps for any other purpose, because these, he said, were dispensed directly by DFID, USAID, the United Nations, the International Red Cross, Doctors without Borders and many other organisations.
The presidency, however, admitted that the humanitarian situation in the IDP camps in the North-east remained challenging but said the administration remained deeply concerned about the medical, health and nutrition challenges in the camps and was doing everything within its limited resources to improve the situation.
The statement said: “However, the blame for the plight of refugees lies with Boko Haram. They are its cause, not the Nigerian government.”
The presidency also expressed regret over a recent attack on the United Nations humanitarian convoy in the North-east.
It said it was encouraged by the world body’s determination to continue rendering assistance to the displaced victims.
“That the attack was repelled by Nigerian troops escorting the convoy shows precisely how the government and humanitarian agencies are working together,” the presidency added.
It also said the allegation that the administration was targeting Christians and the opposition was without foundation.
“Since assuming office, President Muhammadu Buhari has treated all Nigerians without bias for ethnicity or religion – as the composition of his cabinet and the policies and programmes of his administration demonstrate.
“To suggest his government as deepening Muslim-Christian divisions is not only untrue, but plays into the hands of Boko Haram which wish to divide Nigerians along religious lines.
“Fighting this group is key a priority of President Buhari’s administration. Indeed the international community has widely acknowledged his determination to defeat terrorism in Nigeria and the entire Lake Chad Basin.
“There is nothing to gain by attempting to mold public opinion against these facts. Therefore we invite The Telegraph to visit Nigeria to witness first hand not only the challenges we face, but the administration’s determination to confront them,” the presidency stated.
