Boko Haram Helped by U.S. Policies, Nigerian President Says

The United States has unintentionally helped Boko Haram militants by refusing to arm Nigerian security forces who are fighting the Islamic extremists, President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria said this week.

Two days after meeting with President Obama at the White House, Mr. Buhari said on Wednesday hat his country’s security forces were “largely impotent” in their fight against Boko Haram, and he put the blame on an American law that blocks assistance to foreign security forces that are accused of human rights abuses.

The application of the law “has aided and abetted the Boko Haram terrorists,” Mr. Buhari said in a speech to the United States Institute of Peace. He said that the allegations of human rights violations against Nigerian forces were unproven, and that restrictions on military aid have “denied us access to appropriate strategic weapons to prosecute the war against the insurgents,” according to a transcript posted on the institute’s website.

Mr. Buhari has made ending the insurgency a priority since he took office eight weeks ago. American officials see a strong interest in Nigeria defeating the Islamic militants, and as recently as Monday, when Mr. Obama and Mr. Buhari met at the White House, administration officials vowed to help Mr. Buhari in the fight.

The administration’s refusal to sell Nigeria advanced weapons, including military helicopters, strained Washington’s relations last year with Mr. Buhari’s predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan.

A report last month by Amnesty International accused Nigerian forces of torture, mass shootings, starvation and the use of deadly chemicals against detainees in prosecution of its war against Boko Haram militants. The report alleged that in the campaign against Boko Haram, the government’s forces have killed more than 8,000 people — a greater number than the militants have.

Human rights violations by the Nigerian military have been a concern for the United States for years, and American officials have often cited such accusations when discussing limits on American cooperation with the Nigerian military. A law in force since 1997, known as the Leahy Law, bars sales of certain types of weapons to the militaries of countries that have been credibly accused of human rights abuses.

Nigerian officials, including the former president, Mr. Jonathan, have played down the accusations of abuses, saying that violations committed in the fight against Boko Haram have been “exaggerated.”

In his inauguration speech in May, Mr. Buhari said he would address accusations of abuses by the military. “We shall improve operational and legal mechanisms, so that disciplinary steps are taken against proven human right violations by the armed forces,” he said.