United States has added its voice to the nationwide protests by Nigerians over the removal of fuel subsidy by the Federal Government, saying it was monitoring the situation in Nigeria "very closely."
In the same vein, it has also condemned statements credited to the militant Islamic sect, Boko Haram, which ordered Christians to leave the North and also claimed responsibility for the strings of deadly attacks on churches.
Responding to questions on the situation in Nigeria during press briefings at the State Department in Washington, Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Public Affairs, Ms. Victoria Nuland, said, "Obviously, there are a lot of complicated issues that the government of Nigeria is dealing with, and some of these have become interlinked. So we’re obviously monitoring the situation very, very closely."
When asked whether US fears that the situation may worsen if oil workers join the strike on Sunday, Nuland said, "we’re not going to get into crystal balling this situation. If things remain peaceful, then you’re seeing a peaceful representation of popular opinion that the government needs to take into account. But at the same time, it’s incumbent on the government to encourage an environment that remains peaceful."
Commenting further on the protests trailing the removal of fuel subsidy, Nuland said, "In the context of the nationwide strikes on the fuel situation, our view on that is that the Nigerian people have the right to peaceful protest, we want to see them protest peacefully, and we’re also urging the Nigerian security services to respect the right of popular protest and conduct themselves professionally in dealing with the strikes."
Nuland said the view of US had neither changed in terms of the right of people to protest peacefully, nor on "the expectation that, as they protest peacefully, assuming they protest peacefully, that Nigerian security services will respect those rights and conduct themselves professionally."
Also at an earlier press briefing, the US official noted recent statements issued by the Nigerian militant Islamic sect adding that such statements by "purported" Boko Haram spokesman was "intended to inflame Muslim and Christian tensions."
She said, "From our perspective, Nigeria derives enormous strength from its ethnic and religious diversity. And this is something that the government needs to capitalize on, and clearly Boko Haram is trying to rip the country apart."
Condemning the violence credited to Boko Haram, Nuland urged Nigerian government "to hold accountable those who are responsible for these attacks, while protecting innocent civilians in the in – as they pursue their law enforcement activities."
She said, "extremist groups, like Boko Haram, were trying to play on some of the tensions inside Nigeria – some of the unsatisfied grievances in the north – and use those as excuses for this kind of violence."
Urging Nigerian government to do whatever it could to redress those grievances, she said, "but we, under no circumstances, consider that this is an excuse for violence."
On whether US considers Boko Haram and al-Qaida in the Maghreb as a threat to its interests in Africa, Nuland said, "we’ve made clear that anybody who is conducting terrorism of any kind is a threat both to the region and is a threat to our shared interest in peace and stability, of course."
The US official also noted some of the "strong statements" by President Goodluck Jonathan, adding, "He’s obviously working hard to address these issues and that needs to continue."
Responding to a question on the warning by nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, that Nigeria may be heading for a civil war, she said, "we have concerns about what Boko Haram is doing about efforts to create and exacerbate existing tensions between Christians and Muslims in the country - North/South.
"We are supporting the efforts of the Nigerian Government to try to get a handle on that. On top of that, as you’ve probably seen, we also have nationwide strikes now in Nigeria in response to lifting of fuel subsidies. So that is adding another layer to the difficulties in Nigeria."
