Samantha Power: begins Nigeria visit today

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power,  begins a visit to Nigeria today over the growing threats of Boko Haram.

She would later visit  Cameroon and Chad, winding up the tour of the Lake Chad basin on 20 April.

The U.S. State Department  said Power, while in Nigeria  would engage with the Nigerian leadership and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Abuja. She would then travel to the North East region to visit a settlement camp for civilians displaced by Boko Haram’s violence.

She would also host a town hall meeting with students and would participate in a Peace through Sports event with young Nigerians.

The US State Department describes Boko Haram as one of the deadliest terrorist groups in the world, posing an acute threat to civilians across the Lake Chad Basin.

The US said the group’s increasing lethality and relationship with ISIL is  a cause for alarm.

The U.S. reiterated its pledge to work with partners in the region to develop a comprehensive counter-Boko Haram effort that includes a more coordinated military campaign, improved humanitarian access and response.

In Cameroon,  Power would meet with government officials and CSOs in its capital, Yaoundé.

She would also travel internally to meet with refugees, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), and Cameroonian forces on the front lines of the regional effort to combat Boko Haram.

She would also participate in a public destruction of confiscated ivory and pangolin scales, demonstrating the strong U.S.-Cameroonian partnership to counter wildlife trafficking.

While in Chad, Power would meet with government officials in N’Djamena and visit the headquarters for the Multinational Joint Task Force, a regional military effort composed of Boko Haram-affected states in the Lake Chad Basin.

Power is also expected to meet with Chadian CSOs and civilians affected by the violence.