Reno Omokri, a former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, has blamed the United States for the worsening terrorism crisis in Nigeria, saying the problem was triggered by U.S. actions in Libya during the Barack Obama administration.
Omokri made the claim on Monday while speaking as a guest on Prime Time, a programme aired on Arise Television. He said the destabilisation of Libya in 2011, which led to the fall of longtime Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, was the root cause of the spread of terrorism across the Sahel region, including Nigeria.
“There’s a moral responsibility on the United States because this problem of terrorism was brought to Nigeria’s doorstep by Barack Obama’s administration,” Omokri said.
According to him, the military intervention in Libya created a vacuum that unleashed armed mercenaries and weapons, many of whom found their way into Nigeria and neighbouring countries, fuelling terrorism and insurgency.
“If Obama’s administration had not intervened in Libya, Gaddafi wouldn’t have been killed. And if Gaddafi hadn’t been killed, and all these foreign mercenaries had not left Libya to come here, there wouldn’t be this terrorism in Nigeria,” he added.
Omokri, who is also a political commentator and social media influencer, said that Nigeria is paying the price for a war it didn’t cause.
“If the United States had not done what they did in Libya, we would not be facing a torrent of terrorism — not just us, but the entire Sahel region.”
He also noted that the administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump made efforts to support Nigeria in the fight against terrorism by approving arms sales that had been previously blocked.
“Thankfully, Trump lifted objections and began selling weapons to us, but the U.S. caused these problems, and they need to help us fix them,” Omokri said.
Nigeria has struggled with terrorism and insurgency for over a decade, particularly in the North-East, where Boko Haram and later ISWAP have carried out deadly attacks and displaced millions.
