PLANS by the US to mount a military raid on Boko Haram's base to help free the abducted Chibok girls could be back in the pipeline after Washington revealed that it is willing to renew its commitment to the crisis following the election of President Muhammadu Buhari.  

After the Chibok girls were abducted by Boko Haram in April last year, US military commanders had planned to mount a daring raid to snatch the girls from the hideout where they were being kept. In response to the global outcry over their abduction, the US sent spy planes to Nigeria to help locate the girls and a plan was agreed with the military to mount a daring rescue operation.  

However, according to two US Army generals, details of the rescue mission was leaked to Boko Haram before it could be put into operation, enabling the terrorists to take preventative action. Accusing the Nigerian Army of treason, the generals revealed that that the war against Boko Haram was purposefully sabotaged by the Nigerian government, as if it would not, defeating the terrorists would not have taken longer than a month.  

Apparently, US sources pulled out from helping Nigeria rescue the missing Chibok girls after Washington discovered that Boko Haram had been fed the details of a covert rescue mission that would involve using gas.  Source said that as soon as the Americans arrived and flew surveillance flights over Nigeria, they located the girls and proposed gassing the areas in the Sambisa Forest and then sending in a raid mission to rescue the girls while their terrorist captors were paralysed asleep. 

However, shortly after Nigeria’s security chiefs were given this plan in high confidence, its details were leaked to Boko Haram who promptly acted to foil the plot. On its next surveillance flight over the area, the US team saw the Boko Haram terrorists all wearing gas masks. 

Following the election of President Buhari, however, the plans may be resuscitated as yesterday, the US assistant secretary of state for African affairs, Linda Thomas-Greenfield and the commander of US Africa command (Africom), General David Rodriguez, said they would engage President Buhari on the issue when he visits White House later in the month. Ms Thomas-Greenfield added that the US government will also focus on how to prepare Nigerian military to support communities. 

She added:  “We will have discussions with him on what we can do to continue to assist Nigeria and their effort to fight against Boko Haram. Part of that discussion will be how we can provide the equipment and support that Nigerians require and we will have discussions on what we can do to continue to assist Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram. 

“Human rights are an important value for the United States and in any place that we are providing lethal weapons. We want to know that the militaries that we are providing those weapons to do not use that in a way that violates the human rights of ordinary civilians so we will have that discussion moving forward.” 

General Rodriguez said the US has been sharing intelligence with the Nigerian government on the Chibok girls and other Boko Haram captives. He added that the command supports peace-keeping efforts and strengthens the capacity of the military in Africa through partnership. 

“We will continue to do that and pursue the effort of rescuing the girls. The United States government is commitment to assisting African countries as they build their capacity to counter terrorism, which Africom is key to providing such assistance," General Rodriguez added.