Nigeria Halts U.S. Training Programme For Military

The Nigerian government has ended the US government's training
programme for Nigerian soldiers.

The Nigerian government requested for the suspension of the programme
less than a month after Washington said it refused to sell the country
Cobra attack helicopters.

"At the request of the Nigerian government, the United States will
discontinue its training of a Nigerian Army battalion," the US Embassy
in the capital, Abuja, said in an e-mailed statement.

The training programme was designed to help Nigeria battle the
Islamist militant group, Boko Haram.

The US turned down the helicopter request "due to concerns about
Nigeria's ability to use and maintain this type of helicopter in its
effort against Boko Haram and ongoing concerns about the Nigerian
military's protection of civilians when conducting military
operations," State Department spokeswoman, Jen Psaki said in
Washington on November 12.

Nigeria's military, under the leadership of President Goodluck
Jonathan, is struggling to deal with intensifying attacks by the
Islamist militant group Boko Haram.

The insurgents have killed more than 13,000 people since 2009,
according to Jonathan.

Suspected Boko Haram members carried out two attacks on cities in
Nigeria's north-east on Monday, killing at least five people, same day
that the US released a statement halting the military training.

"We regret premature termination of this training, as it 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 embassy said.
--ChannelsTV