The United States said in Abuja on Monday that it had cancelled its training of a Nigerian Army battalion at the request of Nigerian government.
Though no reason was offered for the cancellation, it might not be unconnected with what Nigeria perceives s unfair attitude of the US government to the country towards purchase of weapons for the fight against insurgent groups in the country.
the US had reportedly refused to sell arms to the Nigerian government who is desperate to re-equip the army for the onerous task of repelling the insurgents, citing human right abuses by Nigerian forces.
Nigeria has been smarting and has voiced its frustrations by the US, forcing the beleaguered to seek arms from other sources, including Russia.
In a statement by its embassy in Abuja, US said that the first two phases of the training were conducted between April and August 2014.
“Based on mutual assessment of the Nigerian Army and US trainers, a third iteration of training was agreed upon with the intent of developing the battalion into a unit with advanced infantry skills,” it read.
The US expressed regret at what it said is the premature termination of the training, noting that the training was to be the first in a larger planned project that would have trained additional units with the goal of helping the Nigerian Army build capacity to counter Boko Haram.
“The US government will continue other aspects of the extensive bilateral security relationship as well as all other assistance programs,” it added.
