Nigeria Cancels US Military Training For Army Battalion

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The United States has announced the discontinuation of its training for a Nigerian Army battalion.

Although no reason was given for the cancellation, the US said it was at the request of the Nigerian government.

In a statement issued by its embassy in Abuja yesterday, the first two phases of the training were conducted between April and August this year.

The statement reads in part, “At the request of the Nigerian government, the United States will discontinue its training of a Nigerian Army battalion. The first two phases of training were conducted between April and August 2014, and had provided previously untrained civilian personnel with basic soldiering skills. “

“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.”

“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 US government will continue other aspects of the extensive bilateral security relationship, as well as all other assistance programme.”

It will be recalled that the media recently has been awash with the refusal of the United States to supply fighter jets to Nigeria to help her fight the raging Boko Haram insurgency.

But the US envoy to Nigeria, James Entwistle, refuted the report, saying the report was misrepresented and that both countries had continued to share training and equipment.

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