Officials: Trump administration OKs attack craft for Nigeria
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is greenlighting a nearly $600 million sale of high-tech attack planes to Nigeria, officials said Thursday. The goal is to shore up the West African nation’s ability to fight Boko Haram and other extremists, despite U.S. concerns about human rights abuses by Nigerian security forces.
The sale will let Nigeria buy up to 12 Embraer A-29 Super Tucano aircraft from Colorado-based Sierra Nevada Corp, according to officials who were briefed on the matter but spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the development publicly. The aircraft come with sophisticated targeting equipment that the U.S says will help Nigeria fight terrorism, trafficking, insurgency and illicit trade.
In his final days in office, former President Barack Obama put the sale on hold after a Nigerian fighter jet repeatedly bombed a camp near the Cameroon border housing civilians who had fled Boko Haram. Local officials have said more than 230 people were killed. The incident that brought new attention to alleged abuses by Nigeria’s forces.
A few weeks later, newly inaugurated President Donald Trump said he supported the sale. He told Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari that it would increase American exports and help Nigeria fight terrorists, according to officials.