SUMMARY: Hundreds of hostages held by the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram were freed over the weekend after a joint raid by Cameroonian and Nigerian forces. The raid followed increased U.S. military efforts to cooperate with regional governments against the jihadist group, which has killed more than 20,000 people over the last six years. Gwen Ifill talks to special correspondent Nick Schifrin for more.
GWEN IFILL (NewsHour): Over the weekend, several hundred hostages of the Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram were freed. It happened during a raid by Nigerian and Cameroonian forces along the border between the two African nations.
The raid comes as the U.S. military has moved to increase cooperation with regional governments to fight the jihadist group. Boko Haram pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, or ISIS, last year. According to Amnesty International, the six-year uprising has killed more than 20,000 people. Another 2.8 million have been forced from their homes in Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger, and Chad.
Boko Haram gained worldwide infamy in 2014 after kidnapping more than 200 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok in Northeastern Nigeria. That sparked a global campaign to free the girls, with the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls as a social media rallying cry. The girls’ plight was a contributing factor to then-President Goodluck Jonathan’s election loss last year.
The U.S. has military personnel operating a new drone base in Cameroon to provide intelligence. And there is now discussion of sending American special forces near the front lines of Nigeria’s fight against Boko Haram. They would advise the military in its operations.
I’m joined now by special correspondent Nick Schifrin. He’s currently on assignment for us in Nairobi, Kenya, and he reported in-depth from Nigeria for the “NewsHour” last year.
Nick, it’s good to talk to you again.
So, tell us what you know about this new U.S. engagement in Nigeria.
NICK SCHIFRIN (NewsHour): Yes, Gwen, good evening.
There’s a new recommendation by the U.S. military’s top Africa Command that one to three dozen special operations forces troops be deployed to Northeastern Nigeria. This is what the military calls an advise-and-assist mission.
They are towards the front lines, but not really on the front lines, advising the Nigerian military in their fight, assisting that fight, things like intelligence and training those troops. Now, this is just a recommendation right now. This will have to go through the State Department and the Pentagon and the White House.
But this is what the military in Africa wants. And it’s what one military official describes as a national progression to a real escalation in what the U.S. has been doing against Boko Haram and helping the Nigerians. The first step in that is intelligence. There’s a new drone base in nearby Northern Cameroon. Predator drones have been supplying the Nigerian and the countries all along the Lake Chad Basin with imagery, with intelligence, so they can go after Boko Haram.
That’s new in the last few months. And just in the last few years, the U.S. has resumed a training mission in Northwestern Nigeria. That is for Nigerian special forces far from the front line. That’s a mission the U.S. has really been trying to resume after it ended about a year ago.
And, Gwen this is in addition to real concerted effort diplomatically to try and help the Nigerians improve things like the police. So, this is a real escalation in the U.S. helping Nigeria and all the countries fighting Boko Haram.
SUMMARY: A series of suicide bombings rocked Nigeria today. They come as the Obama administration announced 300 U.S. soldiers would be sent to neighboring Cameroon. For more on the situation, Hari Sreenivasan speaks to Peter Pham of the Atlantic Council.
HARI SREENIVASAN (NewsHour): The deadly attacks in Nigeria this week come as the Obama administration announced 300 U.S. soldiers would be sent to neighboring Cameroon.
For more on all this, I’m joined now by Peter Pham, director of the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center.
What does the U.S. hope to accomplish here? What kind of skills are we bringing?
PETER PHAM, Atlantic Council: Well, two things, Hari, first to provide better intelligence on the increase in cross-border activity of Boko Haram.
It’s no longer just a threat in Nigeria, but the group is reaching into Niger, into Chad and into Cameroon, so to monitor those movements. And then, secondly, to — once the full complement of the 300 U.S. personnel are there, to engage in some further training of Cameroon’s military.
Cameroon’s military has a unit, the so-called rapid reaction force, known by its French acronym BIR. The BIR has been U.S.-trained, has had U.S. cooperation and equipment since 2009. It’s one of the best military units in the region, and so bringing them up to speed, up to the level necessary to fight this new type of challenge that they’re facing.
HARI SREENIVASAN: And compare that to the rest of the neighborhood, so to speak, or their military capacity.
PETER PHAM: Well, Nigeria has the largest military in terms of personnel in the region, but, since 1999, when the military ceded power back to civilian rule, in an effort to avoid future military coups, the Nigerian military was starved of resources.
And where the resources were allocated, it was primarily to build up peacekeeping capability. And Nigeria has contributed very well to peacekeeping activities in Africa and places like Darfur, as well as elsewhere in the world. But the skill sets in peacekeeping are entirely different from war fighting, much less the type of specialized warfare, counterinsurgency, counterterrorism that Boko Haram calls for.
Chad has a battle-seasoned army, but it again faces a new type of challenge in Boko Haram. Niger is one of America’s best partners in Africa, but it’s a desperately poor country. It’s been a good cooperation in security cooperation, but it needs our help.
So, really, we’re struggling to find the units that can be trained up to the standards we need.
JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour): We turn now to Nigeria, the most populous nation in Africa. The troubled country, struggling with massive economic problems, corruption and an Islamic extremist insurgency, made history today, as it inaugurated it’s new leader, Muhammadu Buhari.
Nigerians celebrated their new president and a strengthened democracy today, as the country’s first democratic transfer of power was finalized.
MAN (through interpreter): It’s a new beginning with an honest man who is serious and focused and determined.
JUDY WOODRUFF: That honest man: Muhammadu Buhari, a former military dictator who calls himself a born-again democrat.
PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI, Nigeria (through interpreter): I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody.
JUDY WOODRUFF: The 72-year-old former general vowed to take charge of the fight against Boko Haram militants, who control portions of Northeast Nigeria.
PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI (through interpreter):Boko Haram is a mindless, worthless group who are as far away from Islam as one can think of.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Just today, at least seven people were killed in Borno state, when suspected Boko Haram militants carried out twin bombings at a wedding party. Hundreds of Boko Haram captives have been freed by the military in recent weeks.
But the fate of the Chibok girls, whose capture sparked the global campaign to Bring Back Our Girls, remains unknown. The U.S. has assisted in that search, and Secretary of State Kerry was on hand today, reaffirming strong U.S.-Nigerian ties.
With the leadership change, the U.S. is reportedly now ready to expand military assistance. That could include sending more advisers to train Nigeria’s army. In addition to the fight against Boko Haram, Buhari inherits a host of other problems from outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan, chief among them, tackling institutionalized corruption, and reinvigorating Africa’s largest economy, which has faltered badly.
Nigeria faces a $63 billion national debt. And even though it is a top global oil producer, it is suffering a months-long fuel crisis.
SUMMARY: Nigeria’s new President Muhammadu Buhari has inherited a host of problems from outgoing president Goodluck Jonathan, including the fight against Boko Haram militants. Does Nigeria’s new leadership offer an opening for better relations with -- and more help from -- the U.S.? Judy Woodruff learns more from J. Peter Pham of The Atlantic Council.
I am Retired U.S. Navy (22yrs) and a Vietnam Veteran. After my Navy retirement I was in the computer related industry, now retired. In 2000 I was a registered Republican and voted for George W. Bush. Six months of having Bush in the Whitehouse forced me to re-evaluate my political stance. I had always thought of myself as a Moderate Republican, but was a Republican by "default" NOT because of close examination of the GOP. Due to what has happened in America since 2000, I now consider myself a progressive, and registered as a Non-Affiliated voter.
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