An American firm known as Creative Associates International (CAI), engaged in outsourcing of contracts on behalf of a United States of America agency, has been fingered in clandestine involvement in the fight against Boko Haram insurgents in the North-east zone of the country.
The behind-the-scene engagement of CAI in the insurgency fight runs contrary to the position of the US Government that had deliberately denied request by the Nigerian Government to purchase arms in order to prosecute the war against Boko Haram as far back as 2014;
The refusal to sell arms to Nigeria was made possible through the Leahy Laws or Leahy amendments that still forbids the U.S. Department of State and Department of Defense from providing military assistance to alleged foreign security force units that violate human rights.
Some of the countries that that have been denied arms or denied assistance through the Leahy amendments, which was named after its sponsor, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), include countries like Bangladesh, Bolivia, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Nigeria, Turkey, Indonesia, Lebanon, and Saint Lucia.
Inside sources claim that following what insiders claim to be a “volte face” in policy, the American firm which has operated under the disguise of providing developmental and humanitarian assistance to parts of the country is now secretly involved in the critical sector of Nigeria’s defense architecture by spending thousands of dollars to dig trenches in some towns in Borno state.
Under the guise of combating ISWAP, a deliberate policy thrust captured in the USG African Strategy (2018), this act violates the constitutional provisions of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution (as amended).
The USG foreign policy priorities as regards Nigeria, as captured in the document, is that the latter’s ‘stability and security directly impacts US national interests’ of countering ISIS and violent conflict.”
It is based on this that the Nigeria-Lake Chad Basin (NLCB) project was conceptualized by CAI under the aegis of the North-East Regional Initiative (NERI) to parcel and shovel activities meant to disrupt ISWAP incursions.
According to NERI Chief of Party, Olivier Girard, at a recent private meeting with the Borno state governor, Prof. Babagana Umara Zulum, before been sworn on May 29, 2019, “some recent undertakings of the NLCB/NERI programme,” include “… the trenching work in several towns across Borno state…”
