15:T795,

As controversy continues to swirl over the alleged massacre of civilians in Baga, Borno State, the Government of the United States of America has announced its decision to stop extending any form of aide to the Nigerian military.

US Ambassador to Nigeria, Terence P. McCulley, announced the decision this morning during a closed-door meeting with stakeholders of Nigeria’s human rights community.

News Express learnt that at the meeting held in the Ambsaador’s Abuja residence “issues of extra-legal killings by security agents and state of of insecurity in the country were extensively discussed,” according to one source. Also discussed, said the source, is “the unprecedented corruption in Nigerian government circles.”

At the meeting, Ambassador McCulley restated the US Government’s worry about the issues discussed and made references to the recently released human rights report of the US State Department which alleged widespread human rights abuses in Nigeria. He then disclosed that the Barack Obama administration has consequently decided to withdraw any further assistance, financial or otherwise, to the Nigerian military.

This is coming on the heels of the controversy surrounding the April 19-21 military operation in Baga, a town close to the Chad border, in which many civilians were allegedly killed in the hunt for Boko Haram insurgents.

Representatives of about 10 prominent human rights group attended the breakfast meeting held with Ambassador McCulley in the Nigerian capital. They include Dr. Jibrin Ibrahim of Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD); Kole Shettima of MacArthur Foundation; Emmanuel Onwubiko of Human Rights Writers’ Association of Nigeria (HURIWA); and Clement Nwankwo of Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC).

•Photo shows US President Barack Obama.

Update news