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On behalf of Nigerian National Security Adviser Muhammadu Sambo Dasuki, Garrett requested
information on Boko Haram activities derived from intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance
overflights of northeastern Nigeria's Borno state. Patton Boggs also asked for non-lethal protective
hardware to be donated to Nigeria such as mine-resistant armored personnel vehicles, night vision
goggles and communications equipment from Iraq and Afghanistan stockpiles left over from U.S.
withdrawals Nigeria from those warzones.
Then, on April 28 Garrett wrote to a military attach at the U.S. embassy in Nigeria to seek a meeting
with Ambassador James Entwistle.
The Nigerian wish-list again included "protected ground mobility for security forces" and "current
imagery, surveillance, reconnaissance (day/night) product and analysis, initially for the Sambisa
Forest Region, Borno State, and for other designated areas of interest," as well as the
communications and individual night vision equipment, according to Garrett's email to Army Major
John Ringquist at the U.S. embassy.
But Garrett said today that no meetings have been scheduled with U.S. diplomats and claims little if
any intelligence has been shared by the U.S., much less any surplus military gear.
"To date I have not received a decisive response to our requests, but we continue to work on these
vital requirements for the office of the national security adviser of the government of Nigeria,"
Garrett told ABC News.
A State Department official would not comment specifically on the requests by Patton Boggs but said
that the U.S. has been working to help counter Boko Haram for years.
"We are providing critical tools and support, like helping Nigeria professionalize its military to
counter this threat. We are working on Nigerian law enforcement so that they can better investigate
and assist in hostage situations. And we are helping provide economic assistance -- including job
training and education -- that can help stem the causes of extremism," said the official.
"Unlike many African nations that are confronting challenging security threats, Nigeria does not lack
funding for its security budget. And as we have said, it is Nigerias responsibility, first and foremost,
to provide for the safety and security of its citizens," the official added.
Another major obstacle likely is the abysmal human rights record of Nigerian security forces related
to counter-terrorism operations. Federal law prohibits U.S. military assistance to foreign military
units unless their troops have been vetted for human rights abuses.
There is a desire to engage with the Nigerian government, but U.S. laws, such as the Leahy law
which prohibits military assistance from going to militaries that have committed human rights
abuses, have held them back. So theres been frustration with the Nigerian government and the
Nigerian military for not implementing reforms," Adotei Awkei of Amnesty International told ABC
news.
The Obama administration's former http://www.forbes.com/places/nigeria/ top diplomat for Africa,
Ambassador Johnnie Carson, told ABC News Thursday that the Nigerian record was one
longstanding factor in rendering aid to them.
"We were concerned that it associated us very closely with what have proven to be unsuccessful
Nigerian policies... like human rights violations by the Nigerian military," Carson said.