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.