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U.S. Ambassador says no troops will be deployed in Nigeria

The United States will support Nigeria in its fight against terrorism by the Boko Haram sect, but says it will not send troops into the … Continue reading U.S. Ambassador says no troops will be deployed in Nigeria


The United States will support Nigeria in its fight against terrorism by the Boko Haram sect, but says it will not send troops into the country, the Associated Press reported.

In an interview with the AP on Thursday, the U.S. ambassador to Nigeria Terence P. McCulley ruled out sending troops “to a country vital to American energy supplies”, the AP wrote.

Nigeria is the fifth largest exporter of oil to the United States, exporting over 40 per cent of its oil products to the Western nation, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported.

However, Africa’s largest oil producer has been plagued with growing attacks attributed to the Boko Haram sect and efforts by security forces to curb the violence are slow to yeild results.

McCulley during his AP interview said the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, has already sent a bomb expert to Nigeri to aid security officials properly detect and defuse improvised explosive devices used by the radical Islamic sect in their attacks.

The U.S. Ambassador further said that his country has improved intelligence-sharing with Nigeria, but insists that sending U.S. troops to the country is “not on the table. No. Absolutely not.”

Meanwhile, top U.S. military officials did confirm that US troops had recently been deployed to four other African countries.

Brian L. Losey, US special operations commander for Africa, said on Wednesday that US troops were now stationed in bases in Uganda, Congo, South Sudan and the Central African Republic.

The United States in October had announced its intent to send some 100 special operation forces to central Africa in a bid to aid the fight against brutal rebel group, the Lord’s Resistance Army and its leader Joseph Kony.

Losey said efforts by the U.S. troops are already paying off as officals have already witnessed a decrease in the brutal activities of the militant group.