The United States Consular General in Nigeria, Mr Jeffrey Hawkins, yesterday, described the killings of students in Yobe state by Boko Haram as “senseless and unfortunate.”
Hawkins said the activities of the Islamic sect might mar the conduct of the 2015 general elections if not checkmated.
He stated this during an interactive session with newsmen in Ado-Ekiti, shortly after a one-day seminar tagged “New Social Media as Tools for Effective Coverage and Monitoring of Elections,” jointly sponsored by the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the United States Consulate, Lagos.
Hawkins said the US Government had given the of sum of $15 million to the Nigerian government to strengthen the electoral process, and expressed optimism that the 2015 elections would be free, fair and credible, if the stakeholders eschewed violence.
He said the United States was determined to help Nigeria to overcome all challenges to ensure the success of the 2015 polls.
The US Consular General commended the federal government’s efforts, particularly the deployment of military to engage the sect, saying that the war against terrorism was a must-win for the country for the security of lives and property.
He said: “Nigeria is a great country and it is strategic in African continent. We are not only providing fund to help the country, but we are going to help in the technical aspects for the 2015 elections to be a success.
“We have strong relationship with the Prof Jega-led INEC. We are not only having diplomatic relationship with the Nigerian government, we are also partnering in the areas of good governance and good electoral system.”
