The U.S. Congress must stop violating Nigerians’ fundamental human right to life.
The Issue
While thousands in northern Nigeria are being killed and millions displaced by Boko Haram and bandits, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee has paused a proposed sale of 12 AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters and accompanying defense systems to the Nigerian military. The U.S. lawmakers cited cited concerns about the Nigerian Government's human rights records as a reason to put the proposed sale on hold. This is coming at a time the Nigerian Military is grappling with multiple security crises at once.
It will not be the first time that the U.S. has taken similar action. In 2014 the Obama administration blocked arms sales to Nigeria over concerns about civilian casualties and human rights abuses. Ironically, around the same period (2014 - 2018) the U.S. became the biggest supplier of arms to Saudi Arabia despite numerous evidence of human rights violations by the Saudi Government since its entry into the Yemen conflict in 2015.
Also, in May 2021, the Biden administration approved a $735 million weapons sale to Israel notwithstanding its dismal human rights records. The sale was approved even though the Israeli military's strikes have killed many civilians and, earlier in the year, destroyed the building that housed the Associated Press, -an American company reporting on the facts in Gaza .
Although the Nigerian government has its own record of human rights violations, the lives of thousands of its citizens far outweigh these violations. The citizens of Nigeria have the right to life first before any other right and denying the government of Nigeria the ability to protect its citizens is the same as denying the citizens the fundamental human right to life.
We call on the U.S. to use its aid and diplomatic influence to demand respect for human rights instead of trying to arm-twist the Nigerian Government through refusal to sell much-needed equipment. The current approach is killing Nigerians and is unlikely to change the attitude of Nigerian politicians because they are hardly the direct victims of the current state of insecurity.
2,714
The Issue
While thousands in northern Nigeria are being killed and millions displaced by Boko Haram and bandits, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee has paused a proposed sale of 12 AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters and accompanying defense systems to the Nigerian military. The U.S. lawmakers cited cited concerns about the Nigerian Government's human rights records as a reason to put the proposed sale on hold. This is coming at a time the Nigerian Military is grappling with multiple security crises at once.
It will not be the first time that the U.S. has taken similar action. In 2014 the Obama administration blocked arms sales to Nigeria over concerns about civilian casualties and human rights abuses. Ironically, around the same period (2014 - 2018) the U.S. became the biggest supplier of arms to Saudi Arabia despite numerous evidence of human rights violations by the Saudi Government since its entry into the Yemen conflict in 2015.
Also, in May 2021, the Biden administration approved a $735 million weapons sale to Israel notwithstanding its dismal human rights records. The sale was approved even though the Israeli military's strikes have killed many civilians and, earlier in the year, destroyed the building that housed the Associated Press, -an American company reporting on the facts in Gaza .
Although the Nigerian government has its own record of human rights violations, the lives of thousands of its citizens far outweigh these violations. The citizens of Nigeria have the right to life first before any other right and denying the government of Nigeria the ability to protect its citizens is the same as denying the citizens the fundamental human right to life.
We call on the U.S. to use its aid and diplomatic influence to demand respect for human rights instead of trying to arm-twist the Nigerian Government through refusal to sell much-needed equipment. The current approach is killing Nigerians and is unlikely to change the attitude of Nigerian politicians because they are hardly the direct victims of the current state of insecurity.
Petition Updates
Share this petition
Petition created on 29 July 2021