US links rising B’Haram attacks to elections.

The United States government has
thrown its weight behind the
Federal Government to conduct this
year’s general elections despite
the fact that the country is facing
security challenges.
This view was expressed on
Tuesday at the US Department of
States’ daily briefing in
Washington.
The US government also said that
the recent incessant attacks by the
Boko Haram insurgents could be as
a result of the approaching general
elections in Nigeria.
“There has been a sharp escalation
in the number of reported
casualties. I think the numbers tend
to be from about 2009 to 2013 –
there were a little over 1,000
casualties. I mean, we’ve obviously
all seen the reported numbers just
this week – which we can’t confirm
exactly, but it clearly shows there’s
been a sharp escalation.
“It’s because Boko Haram has
tended to, particularly around
something like an election, used
political issues or sensitivities to
try and inflame tensions. We’ve
seen that as one of their tactics, and
that’s why it’s so important to
move forward with the election,
because we believe it’s important.
Well, I don’t want to prejudge.
“We’ve seen successful elections
go forward in places that have
pretty significant levels of violence.
So, we believe the election should
go forward. We know there are
security challenges. We do think
that the election is probably a
factor. As I said, we believe the
election should still go forward,
even in the face of this pretty
horrific violence,” Marie Harf, the US
spokeswoman, told journalists.
According to her, the US
government will continue to assist
President Goodluck Jonathan’s
administration in fighting
terrorism, despite the fact that a
training programme by the US for
Nigeria’s military personnel was
cancelled by Nigeria late last year..