From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja
Following the allegation made by an American legislator, Scott Perry, that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was funding Boko Haram activities, the Senate has summoned the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu and the Director General of National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ambassador Mohammed Mohammed, to brief it on the veracity or otherwise of the claim.
Also invited were the Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Mr Adeola Oluwatosin Ajayi, and the Head of Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), Major General Emmanuel Undiandeye.
This followed the adoption of the resolution of a motion of urgent national importance sponsored by Sen. Ali Ndume (Borno South) during plenary yesterday.
Leading debate on the motion, Ndume recalled that on February 13, 2025, the social media space was awash following an allegation by Congressman Scott Perry, representing Pennsylvania, at the inaugural hearing of subcommittee on delivering on government efficiency, that USAID has been funding terrorist organisations across the world, Boko Haram inclusive.
He noted that this allegation was coming on the heels of the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, raising an alarm that Boko Haram terrorist groups were being sponsored and trained by international organisations.
“Over the years, the modus operandi of Boko Haram in Nigeria has been a source of great concern. Their source of funding and operations have been shrouded in mystery.
“The devastation caused by Boko Haram in the North East region and other parts of the country, which includes the bombing of UN building in August 2021, and of course, the bombing of the police headquarters here in Abuja, among other attacks, led to loss of lives of Nigerians in thousands, and wanton destructions of property, which occasioned unprecedented internal displacement across the country,” he stated.
The senator added that the Federal Government, over the years, had strived to put measures in place to curtail the activities of terrorist groups in the country by spending huge resources, which seem not to have yielded much result as the nefarious activities of terrorists continued unabated.
He decried the monumental devastation caused by Boko Haram in the country, which he said had dented the image of this country among the comity of nations.
Ndume stressed the urgent need for steps to be taken by the Federal Government to unravel the mystery behind the whole episode.
He prayed the Senate to urge the Federal Government to constitute an inter-ministerial committee, comprising ministries of defence, interior, foreign affairs and the headships of armed forces and other security agencies to investigate the allegations and make appropriate recommendations on the way forward.
In addition, the lawmaker asked that an ad hoc committee, comprising the chairman and vice chairman of the Senate Committees on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Defence, Army, Navy, Air Force, National Security and Intelligence, Police Affairs and Foreign Affairs, should be constituted to liaise with the relevant authorities to ascertain the veracity of the allegations with a view to taking appropriate legislative measures.
However, Senator Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central), while supporting the motion, noted that it was almost impossible to do justice to the issues raised on the motion in plenary as it would require a very robust, elaborate debate. He, therefore, moved that the resolutions should be reduced to just a summon of the relevant agencies to brief the lawmakers in an executive session.
“The Senate needs to be briefed, first and foremost, by the heads of various security agencies in a closed-door session.
“We have the intelligence organisation that is funded by this government. I strongly feel, Mr. President, that we need to carry just one prayer, which suggests to me that we invite the National Security Advisor, NIA and the Director of the DSS for a closed-door session with the Senate on this particular matter because that is their prerogative. That is their field. They have been funded to protect this country against all odds. But, I’m sure this motion arose because of the inability of the government to make any announcement, pronouncement on this particular matter.”
Reacting to his submission, Sen. President Godswill Akpabio agreed with him, alleging that majority of what is seen on social media is false.
“Even when I read the issue on social media, I was a bit circumspect. You know social media is garbage in, garbage out, anybody can say anything on the social media. Many of us have experienced social media attacks as leaders and sometimes, 99 percent of what is in the social media is inaccurate, sometimes total speculation and sometimes based on mischief. So, there is no way we can shave a man behind his back. We must hear from our own security agencies, we must hear from our intelligence agencies.”
When put to vote, the amended resolution was carried, though the Senate did not state the day the security heads will be appearing.