Mike Arnold, the Republican Mayor of Blanco, Texas, has criticised Nigeria’s approach to combating terrorism, questioning why the country seeks financial assistance from the United States while rejecting foreign input on security issues.
Speaking on Arise Television’s Prime Time on Monday, Arnold said he found Nigeria’s stance contradictory.
“I don’t understand why a nation that is mineral-rich as Nigeria has to go and beg for help to save her own people,” he said. “Nigeria has plenty of resources to help her people get at least something where they can help get stability. Displaced people are denied stability, their homes are bulldozed with no warning. It is horrific. You don’t want America to come here and speak on terrorism, but you want their money — that does not make sense to me whatsoever.”
Arnold’s comments came during a fact-finding mission organised by Nigerian political commentator Reno Omokri. The trip aims to counter claims by US Senator Ted Cruz that Nigeria supports terrorism and enables a “Christian genocide.”
Omokri, who described the allegations as “ludicrous and based on misinformation,” invited Arnold and filmmaker Jeff Gibbs to Nigeria to meet with religious leaders from the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), and internally displaced persons (IDP) camps.
“Before coming, they briefed Senator Cruz and Congressman Roy. They’ve now seen things for themselves and spoken with both Christian and Muslim leaders,” Omokri said.
He emphasised that while attacks on Christians have occurred, they do not amount to genocide, noting that Muslims have also been victims of extremist violence.
Omokri linked Nigeria’s insecurity to the aftermath of the 2011 NATO intervention in Libya. “This crisis began when the Obama administration intervened in Libya. After Gaddafi fell, his mercenaries spread across the Sahel with weapons and training. They destabilised the region from Burkina Faso to Mali and Niger. Now they are trying to do the same in Nigeria,” he said.
He further accused the United States of moral complicity, adding, “There is a moral responsibility on the United States because this problem was brought to Nigeria’s doorstep by the Obama administration.”
Omokri explained that the mission’s goal is to prevent Nigeria from being listed as a “country of particular concern” by Washington — a designation he warned could worsen insecurity and harm both Christian and Muslim citizens.
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