US TO TRACE NIGERIA’S STOLEN FUNDS



The United States will offer to help Nigeria’s new leader track down billions of dollars in stolen assets and increase US military assistance to fight Islamic militants, US officials said, as Washington seeks to reset ties with Africa’s biggest economy.

The visit to Washington by President Muhammadu Buhari is viewed by the US administration as a chance to set the seal on improving ties since he won a March election, hailed as Nigeria’s first democratic power transition in decades.

US cooperation with Buhari’s predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan, had virtually ground to a halt over issues, including his refusal to investigate corruption and human rights abuses by the Nigerian military.

The improving ties with Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer, came as US relations have cooled with two other traditional African powers – Egypt and South Africa.

US officials have said they were willing to send military trainers to help Nigeria counter a six-year-old northern insurgency by the Boko Haram Islamist movement.
Since Buhari’s election, Washington has committed $5m in new support to a multi-national task force set up to fight the group. This is in addition to at least $34m it is providing for Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger for equipment and logistics.
Buhari’s move on July 13 to fire military chiefs appointed by Jonathan cleared the way for more military cooperation, US officials said.

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