U.S unintentionally aided Boko Haram with arms ban – Buhari

•Buhari

The United States has “aided and abetted” albeit unintentionally, the Boko Haram sect by refusing to provide weapons to Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari said.

A U.S law prevents the government from selling arms to countries which fail to tackle human rights abuses, the BBC reports.

Buhari met President Barack Obama in Washington on Monday to seek further assistance.

He heavily criticised the U.S, especially the Leahy Law, which links military sales to human rights.

The Nigerian military did “not possess the appropriate weapons and technology which we could have had if the so-called human rights violations had not been an obstacle,” the BBC quoted the President as saying to the U.S Institute of Peace on Wednesday.

“Unwittingly, and I dare say unintentionally, the application of the Leahy Law Amendment by the United States government has aided and abetted the Boko Haram terrorists.”

The Boko Haram sect has killed some 10,000 people since 2009 and has also kidnapped hundreds of girls and women.

Last month, human rights group Amnesty International said that some 8,000 men and boys had died in Nigerian military custody after being detained as suspected militants.

The military rejected this allegation, and the government promised an investigation but there have been no further details.

The U.S has previously promised some $5m (£3.2m) in military assistance to the regional coalition helping to fight Boko Haram, which has pledged allegiance to Islamic State.