US CongressMan Appeals For Humanitarian Support For Victims Of Boko Haram

A United States Congressman, Chris Smith, has appealed for the provision of care and support for families affected by the Boko Haram insurgency in the North East.

Speaking at a news conference in Abuja, Mr Smith decried the absence of medical personnel and counsellors in the affected states, saying that it could further lead to a traumatising experience for survivors of the insurgency.

While condemning the abduction and killing of young school children in the North East, the lawmaker pledged the United States Government’s support in curbing insecurity in the country.


“As a powerful sovereign nation, Nigeria owns the responsibility to secure the safe release of the Chibok girls, but the international community can and must play a robust role in supporting her especially in the area of intelligence gathering and in the area of training”, he said.

The lawmaker said that he had visited the intelligence officers of the United States and other countries as they shared best practices with Nigeria’s security agencies on how to best find the whereabouts of the Chibok girls and ultimately mitigate the abuse by the Boko Haram sect.


He also highlighted the “lack of humanitarian access particularly to the three states to the North where people are dying and sick and cannot get help because the NGOs and all the humanitarian actors cannot get there to provide medicine and food.

“Perhaps humanitarian corridors as was done in other conflicts could be negotiated so that these people will not die or suffer irreparable harm because of all of that”, he advised.