1. US State Department clears possible $346 million weapons sale to Nigeria, pending Congressional approval.
2. Package aims to boost Nigeria’s fight against Boko Haram, other insurgents, and illicit trafficking in the Gulf of Guinea.
3. Boko Haram insurgency has killed around 35,000 civilians, displaced over 2 million, and violence is also surging in Nigeria’s north-central and northwest regions.
The US State Department has approved a potential $346 million weapons sale to Nigeria aimed at strengthening the country’s security forces against insurgent and criminal threats, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency, a division of the U.S. Department of Defense, confirmed that Congress has been notified and must approve the deal. The package is expected to enhance Nigeria’s capacity to combat terrorist groups and curb illicit trafficking in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea.
Nigeria has been grappling with a resurgence of Boko Haram attacks in the northeast, where the jihadist group has overrun military outposts, planted roadside bombs, and raided civilian communities in recent months. The conflict, ongoing since 2009, has killed an estimated 35,000 civilians and displaced more than two million people, according to the United Nations.
The country also faces escalating violence in the north-central and northwest regions, where armed gangs have carried out deadly assaults.
The U.S. said the sale would not affect its defense readiness. Nigeria has previously purchased American military equipment, including a $997 million deal approved in 2022.
