[House Hearing, 114 Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] THE U.S. ROLE IN HELPING NIGERIA CONFRONT BOKO HARAM AND OTHER THREATS IN NORTHERN NIGERIA ======================================================================= HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH, GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS, AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION __________ MAY 11, 2016 __________ Serial No. 114-210 __________ Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/ or http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/ ______ U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 20-100PDF WASHINGTON : 2016 ____________________________________________________________________ For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office, Internet:bookstore.gpo.gov. Phone:toll free (866)512-1800;DC area (202)512-1800 Fax:(202) 512-2104 Mail:Stop IDCC,Washington,DC 20402-001 COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, Chairman CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida BRAD SHERMAN, California DANA ROHRABACHER, California GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York STEVE CHABOT, Ohio ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey JOE WILSON, South Carolina GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia MICHAEL T. McCAUL, Texas THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida TED POE, Texas BRIAN HIGGINS, New York MATT SALMON, Arizona KAREN BASS, California DARRELL E. ISSA, California WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina ALAN GRAYSON, Florida MO BROOKS, Alabama AMI BERA, California PAUL COOK, California ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California RANDY K. WEBER SR., Texas GRACE MENG, New York SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania LOIS FRANKEL, Florida RON DeSANTIS, Florida TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas TED S. YOHO, Florida ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois CURT CLAWSON, Florida BRENDAN F. BOYLE, Pennsylvania SCOTT DesJARLAIS, Tennessee REID J. RIBBLE, Wisconsin DAVID A. TROTT, Michigan LEE M. ZELDIN, New York DANIEL DONOVAN, New York Amy Porter, Chief of Staff Thomas Sheehy, Staff Director Jason Steinbaum, Democratic Staff Director ------ Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, Chairman MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina KAREN BASS, California CURT CLAWSON, Florida DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island SCOTT DesJARLAIS, Tennessee AMI BERA, California DANIEL DONOVAN, New York C O N T E N T S ---------- Page WITNESSES The Honorable Frank R. Wolf, distinguished senior fellow, 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative................................. 9 Mr. Emmanuel Ogebe, special counsel, Justice for Jos Project..... 18 ``Sa'a'', Chibok schoolgirl, Education Must Continue Initiative.. 55 Christopher Fomunyoh, Ph.D., senior associate and regional director for Central and West Africa, National Democratic Institute...................................................... 60 LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING The Honorable Frank R. Wolf: Prepared statement.................. 14 Mr. Emmanuel Ogebe: Prepared statement........................... 22 ``Sa'a'': Prepared statement..................................... 57 Christopher Fomunyoh, Ph.D.: Prepared statement.................. 62 APPENDIX Hearing notice................................................... 80 Hearing minutes.................................................. 81 The Honorable Christopher H. Smith, a Representative in Congress from the State of New Jersey, and chairman, Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations: Statement from Refugees International........... 82 THE U.S. ROLE IN HELPING NIGERIA CONFRONT BOKO HARAM AND OTHER THREATS IN NORTHERN NIGERIA ---------- WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 2016 House of Representatives, Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:31 p.m., in room 2255, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Christopher H. Smith (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Mr. Smith. The subcommittee will come to order, and welcome. A number of members are on their way, so I will just start with my opening comments and then yield to Ms. Bass and other members as they come in. Let me just say at the outset--and I will be introducing, obviously, all of our distinguished witnesses after opening statements--but I just want to welcome back to the U.S. House of Representatives a 17-term, 34-year Member of the House, Frank Wolf, who is truly the William Wilberforce of the U.S. Congress. He continues that work now, as we all know, as the distinguished senior fellow for the 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative and the Jerry and Susie Wilson chair in religious freedom at Baylor University. Frank Wolf, as I think many of you know, is the author of the landmark law on religious freedom. It is called the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. That legislation was strongly opposed by the Clinton administration. I remember chairing hearings on it. He wrote the language and did a magnificent job shepherding it both through the House and the Senate, but it was opposed by the administration. But at the end of the day, with a nose up, the President, in this case President Clinton, signed it, and it has made all the difference in the world. And as I think many of you know, it not only created the International Religious Freedom office and, obviously, established a number of mutually reinforcing sanctions, 18 of them that now the President has in his toolbox to promote religious freedom, but it also established an independent commission, the purpose of which is to really advise Congress, and, frankly, the President, to be a clear, nonambiguous voice about religious freedom. And all of that, every bit of that is attributable to Frank Wolf. And I want to thank him again for that extraordinary effort. I saw firsthand his devotion to human rights on a myriad of ways, including trips with Frank to prison camps all over the world, including in the Soviet Union. The infamous Perm Camp 35, where Natan Sharansky spent so many years of his life and other political prisoners, a godforsaken place in Perm Oblast, a place that no Americans had been to simply because it was off limits to everyone. Over the course of 2 years he negotiated his way, and I joined him, to Perm Camp, where we met with prisoners, videotaped them. And one by one they actually got out of that prison camp. I saw it again when we were in a Gulag in China, Beijing Prison Number 1. There were at least 40 Tiananmen Square activists there who were in servitude. They were truly being exploited. And that was closed, that Beijing Prison Number 1, because Frank had the good sense to ask the warden--his name was Zhou--for a box of what they were producing there, socks and jelly shoes, which were all the rage among young girls at the time in this country and in Europe for export. He brought that over to the commissioner to the State Department, they put an import ban on it, and Beijing Prison Number 1 closed its doors because we have a law that precludes importation of slave-made goods. That was Frank Wolf. We saw it again in Vukovar, a city that was under siege by Slobodan Milosevic. After that we met with Slobodan Milosevic-- and he lied through his teeth, war criminal that he is--and made strong and persistent efforts to mitigate the effects of that war, because right after Croatia, which is where Vukovar is, they went into Bosnia and did more killing. But Frank was right at the forefront of that in Romania and so many other countries. And Africa, the first Member of Congress to push so aggressively, and Sam Brownback was part of that effort as well, to say that in Sudan there is a genocide going on and we not only need to raise our voices, we need to put into place policies that will hopefully end that genocide. So Frank Wolf is truly a leader. He is a man of deep Christian faith. He walks the walk in a way worthy of his calling. He also chaired, as I think many of you may know, several Appropriations subcommittees, including Commerce, Justice, and Science, his last perch, leadership post, and wrote a number of laws, including nine major appropriations bills. So a man of great legislative accomplishment. But it is his heart for the weak and disenfranchised and his advocacy for religious freedom that has and continues to make all the difference in the world. So, Mr. Wolf, welcome. Nigeria is Africa's most populous country, as we all know, with more than 180 million people, roughly divided between Muslims and Christians, and including numerous ethnic groups. Nigeria's Muslim population is among the largest in the world and has likely overtaken Egypt as the largest on the continent. Lagos, its commercial center, is among the world's largest cities. Nigeria also is Africa's largest economy and largest oil producer. Nigeria has long been a top troop contributor to U.N. peacekeeping operations and is a major political force on the continent. I would note, parenthetically, one time in Darfur I myself hooked up with a group of peacekeepers and they were from Nigeria. I was in Sarajevo during the Balkan War and there was the same man, Major Ajumbo. So they really have distinguished themselves as providers of peacekeepers who have done great work around the world. Unfortunately, that stability that they have striven for has been under increasing threat in recent years. Disgruntled elements of mostly Muslim Kanuri ethnic group in 2003 created Boko Haram, a violent extremist group based in the northeast. Boko Haram is considered the deadliest terrorist group in the world, responsible for 6,664 deaths last year alone. Neglect of the region has limited potential support of the Kanuris and other ethnic groups for government efforts to combat the terror threats in northern Nigeria. Elsewhere in northern Nigeria, Fulani herdsmen have clashed with a multitude of ethnic groups of farmers, multi-ethnic farmers, leaving 3,000 people dead since 2010. Meanwhile, the growing number of confrontational Shiites in northern Nigeria recently resulted in a December 2015 massacre in Zaria in Kaduna State in which an as yet undetermined number of civilians and military were killed. The number of dead is believed to be in the hundreds, but there are several ongoing investigations of this incident. This subcommittee has long held hearings, many hearings on various aspects of Nigeria's situation, including specifically attacks by Boko Haram. Staff Director Greg Simpkins and I have visited Abuja and Jos several times. Jos is a city where numerous churches were fire bombed by Boko Haram and I know Mr. Wolf has just been there with his delegation. Today's hearing will examine the ongoing fight against the terrorist group Boko Haram and other conflicts in northern Nigeria in an effort to determine the best way for the U.S. Government to help address these challenges in the context of our overall Nigeria policy. The Nigerian Government has struggled to respond to the continuing threat posed by Boko Haram. U.S. officials have expressed continuing concern about Boko Haram's impact in Nigeria and neighboring countries and its ties with other extremist groups, notably the self-proclaimed Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, to which Boko Haram pledged allegiance in 2015. The recruitment of Nigerians by other transnational terrorist groups also has been a concern. The State Department designated Boko Haram and a splinter faction, Ansaru, as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, or FTOs, in November 2013 following sustained efforts by this subcommittee. I would note, parenthetically, the day we were going to mark up a resolution that I had introduced to so designate, they made that proclamation. It was 2 to 3 years late in coming. The U.S. Government has made every effort to support Nigeria's battle against Boko Haram, but our counterterrorism training was suspended by the previous Nigerian Government. It has been resumed, I am happy to say, and it is much needed. Boko Haram commenced a territorial offensive in mid-2014 that Nigerian forces struggled to reverse until early 2015, when regional military forces, primarily from neighboring Chad, launched an offensive against the group. The Nigerian Army has since reclaimed most of the territory, although many areas remain insecure. One of the witnesses today, Emmanuel Ogebe, recently told of his meeting with a Christian woman named Saratu in a refugee camp in northern Nigeria: ``She had just returned from searching for her four children, ages 14, 11, 8, and 7, who had been abducted by Boko Haram from an attack on her town in 2014. She traveled to the front lines,'' he went on to say, ``asking soldiers if they saw her kids. She went to IDP camps. This is the life of many today in northern Nigeria.'' We recently commemorated the tragic 2-year anniversary of the kidnapping of nearly 300 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok in northeastern Nigeria. We have with us today Sa'a, one of the girls who escaped this mass kidnapping. But many of her classmates were not so fortunate. Many of these schoolgirls are believed to have been forced to convert to Islam and marry to Boko Haram fighters or prostituted by this egregious group. We now receive reports that some of them may be used as suicide bombers. As if the menace posed by Boko Haram was not enough of a challenge for the government of President Buhari there is the growing crisis in Nigeria's Middle Belt, largely caused by clashes between Fulani herdsmen and a multi-ethic group of farmers. Some of the violence is a result of conflicts over cattle rustling on encroachment on private land. Nevertheless, according to the current Global Terrorism Index, Fulani militants operating in Nigeria and Central African Republic are considered the fourth-deadliest militant group in Africa behind Boko Haram, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and al-Shabaab. More recently, a new threat has been added to the volatile northern region. Although the majority of Nigerian Muslims are Sunni, there are between 1 million and 3 million Shia consecrated in Kano, Nassarawa, and Kaduna States. A member of the recent staff delegations that visited Kaduna found a high level of concern by Sunni Muslim leaders about what they described as an assertive Shia presence reportedly supported by Iran. Since the 1980s, the Shiite Islamic Movement in Nigeria, or IMN, has existed as a state within a state. Despite being a professed nonviolent movement, the IMN has made itself a public nuisance, blocking roads on the days they have processions, thus preventing citizens from accessing medical care in a timely fashion. It is for these social and religious reasons why the group is not sympathetic, even in light of what is believed to have occurred last December. Although the details of what happened in the town of Zaria appear to be murky, the U.S. Embassy beliefs that Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai was attending a graduation ceremony in Zaria during the anticipated IMN religious procession. A Nigerian security force deployed to protect Buratai's route had an altercation with IMN members. Claiming that there was an assassination attempt on Burati, the Nigerian military opened fire. Again, the exact number of people killed is not known, but this is a very serious potential escalation in that region. I would like to now yield to my very distinguished colleague, Ms. Bass, for any opening comments she might have. Ms. Bass. Mr. Chairman, thank you for conducting this critical and once again timely hearing. I welcome the witnesses and look forward to your perspectives on the deterioration of peace and security, particularly in northern Nigeria. We know that Nigeria as a whole is a vibrant, dynamic country aspiring toward democracy, as evidenced by the 2015 elections. And as one of your expert witnesses has cited in the past, the country's vibrant private sector, civil society, labor unions, and professional associations are essential ingredients for a democratic society. Also, Nigeria, with some 250 different ethnicities, is the most populous country in sub-Saharan Africa with a population in excess of 180 million people. In the United States, Nigerian-Americans compose in part a well-educated and entrepreneurial diaspora, and Nigerians are known to be some of the most educated immigrants that come to the United States. Nigeria has long been an important economic ally of the U.S., and Abuja is also a critically important recipient of and leading regional actor in the U.S. and regional counterterrorism initiatives. However, over the past few years international commentary about this regional economic powerhouse has had to address increasingly the murderous attacks by Boko Haram on the impoverished communities of northeast Nigeria, the kidnapping of Chibok girls, and many others. I imagine that our colleague Frederica Wilson will probably be here with us today, and she has led the effort in the House to fight for the return of the Chibok girls. I have been dismayed when I hear of children being used as suicide bombers. And I have to say ``suicide'' implies that they consented. And to me, I think ``human bombs'' is a more accurate description of this atrocity. All of these crises are exacerbating ethno-religious differences in the north and pose strong challenges to the government of President Buhari. His administration must not only contend with the terrorist activity of Boko Haram, but must address thoroughly the humanitarian plight of the growing population of internally displaced individuals in Nigeria. To sidestep their plight could result in further alienating these communities and prompt them to support terrorist activities. Again, all of these complex issues must be dealt with impartially, succinctly, and swiftly by the Government of Nigeria, mindful always of the delicate ethnic, socioeconomic, and sectarian divide in the country. Of particular interest to me, and perhaps the witnesses can address, why these issues, notably the longstanding antagonism between the pastoralists and farmers, are coming to a head so violently and at this particular time and what role growing sectarian differences play in the situation. Again, Mr. Chairman, I look forward to hearing from all of our witnesses today regarding the recommended strategic next steps to be taken by the United States and the Buhari Government. Thank you. Mr. Smith. Thank you, Ms. Bass. Mr. Meadows. Mr. Meadows. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I will be brief. But I want to give a little bit of hope in that there are hearings that go on time and time and time again, and some would suggest that the hearings go on with very little fruit. But I also would like to note that a number of hearings at the direction of Chairman Smith have not only produced fruit, but produced lasting fruit. And so it is your leadership, Chairman Smith, and obviously your leadership as well, Ms. Bass, that I applaud. Mr. Wolf, I want to say it is so good to see you again. And there is no one who has fought more diligently for the rights of those who perhaps can't speak for themselves throughout his career as Frank Wolf. And so it is this body who has lost out at your new endeavor, but it is certainly the world's gain, because you continue to fight with passion for those that are suffering without regard to personal well-being. And so I just want to say thank you for being here. But perhaps more telling than that will be the witness that has, unfortunately, got to experience a lot of this tragedy that we will be talking about here today. I think there will be no more compelling testimony than to actually hear from someone who has seen it up close and personal. And for America to act, they must first understand and feel the horror and the passion that so many in Nigeria and throughout northern Africa feel when there is persecution that goes on. So you have my commitment that not only will this be a hearing, but it will be something that we will continue to follow up with on a bipartisan manner to try to make sure that results are significant and lasting, and ultimately that fear does not reign in the hearts of little girls and others in Nigeria. And so I want to thank all of the witnesses for being here and express my apology, we are actually monitoring this, I have another hearing to go to in about 10 minutes. But we will be monitoring and following up. And thank you for your leadership, both of you. Mr. Smith. Mr. Meadows, thank you for your leadership, and hopefully you can get back after that other hearing. I would like to recognize Mr. Donovan, the gentleman from New York. Mr. Donovan. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I echo my colleague Mr. Meadows' remarks. And I am going to yield the remainder of my time so we give the witnesses more time to speak and testify. Thank you. Mr. Smith. I would like to yield to the chairman of the Congressional International Religious Freedom Caucus, Congressman Trent Franks of Arizona. Mr. Franks. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank all of you for being here today. It is an honor for me to be here among you. And I also will point out one Frank Wolf in the audience. I think there should be a 70-foot bronze statue of him out in front of Capitol, because he has been such a warrior, as Mr. Meadows spoke so succinctly, for those who don't have a voice, for those who need to be defended but there is no one there to defend them. There is nothing more noble than that. Mr. Chairman, I guess I'd just ask for diplomatic immunity, because Boko Haram has terrorized innocent Nigerians for over a decade and clear links were made between the group and other insidious terrorist organizations many years ago. And I was very disappointed in the administration's response to Boko Haram. Our office was engaged on this issue for a number of years, and when we approached Hillary Clinton's State Department the response was excruciatingly slow. They just simply didn't consider Boko Haram at the time a significant terrorist threat and played down our concerns. In response to a letter from Members of Congress in 2012 the State Department said, ``The religious tension, while real, should not be mistaken as the primary source of violence in Nigeria.'' While there are other certain factors contributing to the abhorrent violence against innocent men, women and children in Nigeria, Mr. Chairman, religious motivation should not be dismissed so callously. Boko Haram has since publicly supported the Islamic State, which calls for the extermination of Christians and Jews and others who do not conform to their radical ideology. And the State Department also noted support provided to Nigerian's law enforcement entities to enhance counterterrorism efforts, but what do we have to show for those efforts? There has been no real follow-up in any way that I know of. According to the 2015 Global Terrorism Index, two of the top deadliest organizations in the world operate in Nigeria. Boko Haram ranked first as the most deadly terrorist organization in 2014. The Fulani militants, who I am sure we will hear more about today, ranked fourth. To this end, I guess I just remain, Mr. Chairman, very disappointed that the administration has failed to respond appropriately to this threat posed by Boko Haram and other terrorist organizations. Our outreach and letter of concern happened over a year before the Chibok girls were kidnapped. If the response had been timely, only God knows whether the tragedy that happened there could have been prevented. And I think it is just another disgraceful chapter in the administration's shameful response to the spread of terrorism throughout the world. So it is my sincere hope that this country, which has long served as an impetus for freedom and justice around the world, will renew its moral conviction, and even its political will, to combat Boko Haram and other organizations who threaten the peace and security of innocent Nigerians or innocent people anywhere. To our panelists, I again want to express my gratitude to each of you for your efforts. I look forward to hearing what you have to say, but I am in the same situation Mr. Meadows is. That is kind of reality around here. I am not going to be able to stay for the hearing. But I thank all of you for being here. I suppose the hardest part that you face is knowing that there are some innocent people out there that help will never come for in time. That is a heartbreaker. That moves my soul very deeply. That is the hardest part. I don't know how we really deal with that emotionally or otherwise. It should break our hearts, but it should not paralyze us and prevent us from reaching out and helping out all that that we can. And the fact that you are doing that is, I think, a profound honor in your own right. So God bless every one of you and thank you. And thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the time. Mr. Smith. Thank you very much, Mr. Franks. I would like to now welcome our distinguished witnesses to the panel table, beginning first with Congressman Frank Wolf. As I said a few moments ago and I will not repeat all of it, but he is a lawmaker with very few equals, in my opinion. Elected the same year as Ronald Reagan in 1980, he served 34 years in the U.S. House of Representatives. He is now the distinguished senior fellow for the 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative and the Jerry and Susie Wilson chair in religious freedom at Baylor University. As I mentioned earlier, he is the author of numerous laws, including and especially the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. He has been in refugee camps all over the world, especially in Africa, worked on human rights issues with persecuted believers in China, Tibet, Romania, Nagorno- Karabakh, Chechnya, Bosnia. How many people have gone to Chechnya? A show of hands. Frank Wolf has really been in some of the toughest places in the world, Bosnia, Kosovo, East Timor, and the Middle East of course. We will then hear from Mr. Emmanuel Ogebe, who is an international human rights lawyer specializing in Africa, and he currently serves as special counsel of the Justice for Jos Project. He earned the singular distinction of being the youngest law graduate in his home country of Nigeria. Exiled to the United States after becoming one of Nigeria's political detainees during the brutal years of military rule, Mr. Ogebe has played a role, a key role, in shaping policy in Nigeria's quest for a stable democracy. He has testified before this subcommittee previously, has provided great counsel and insight to me, to my staff, and others about what is truly going on in Nigeria, particularly as it relates to Boko Haram. And he has also been a guest speaker at university campuses across the U.S. and around the world. He has spoken at the Geneva Summit, the United Nations, World Bank, Canadian Parliament, and, again, before other parliaments. Then we will hear from Sa'a, who was one of the 276 schoolgirls who was kidnapped from the government secondary school in Chibok by the terrorist group Boko Haram 2 years ago but escaped by jumping off a truck. Sa'a has twice escaped from Boko Haram attacks on her schools. When Sa'a survived the first attack at her previous government secondary school in Bama, her parents decided to move her and enroll her in the Chibok secondary school because they thought it would be a safer place to continue her education. She currently is attending college in the United States under a project by the Education Must Continue Initiative, a charity run by victims of the insurgency for victims of the insurgency. Sa'a is a pseudonym that she uses for protection. Thank you for being here and your willingness to testify. We will then hear from Dr. Chris Fomunyoh, who is currently serving as the senior associate and regional director for central and west Africa at the National Democratic Institute. Dr. Fomunyoh has organized and advised international election observation missions and designed and supervised country- specific democracy support programs with civic organizations, political parties, and legislative bodies throughout central and west Africa. He recently designed and helped launch the African Statesmen Initiative, a program aimed at facilitating political transitions in Africa by encouraging former democratic heads of state. He is also an adjunct faculty at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies and a former adjunct professor of African politics and government at Georgetown University. Congressman Wolf. STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE FRANK R. WOLF, DISTINGUISHED SENIOR FELLOW, 21ST CENTURY WILBERFORCE INITIATIVE Mr. Wolf. Thank you, Mr. Smith, for your comments. I appreciate it. I want to thank Chairman Smith and the members of the committee for having this hearing today, and particularly thank Mr. Smith for his leadership over the many years. I also want to begin by saying that these are my personal observations. However, a detailed trip report will be released on June 9 at an event here by the 21st Century Wilberforce Group. I, along Randel Everett, president of 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative, Elijah Brown, executive vice president, and Lou Ann Sabatier, director of communications, traveled to Nigeria in late February this year. We arranged our own itinerary. We did not travel with the U.S. State Department. We traveled to three states with representatives from the Stefanos Foundation, a Nigerian nonprofit that has worked for 14 years in relief, restoration, and rebuilding lives and communities ravaged, ravaged by violence and persecution in northern Nigeria. We met with representatives from nine states in the north who traveled to spend several hours with us, sharing stories and documentations of persecution. And much of the time was spent in Jos and the surrounding area, often referred to as the Middle Belt. We listened, we listened to hundreds of individuals in small villages and remote areas miles off the main roads. We talked to tribal leaders, pastors, mothers and fathers, as well as government officials and our own Embassy personnel. We heard about the pain, suffering, and agony that the people in northern and central Nigeria have faced and continue to face. Many of the people we spoke to believe the world is not concerned with their problems, and I must say I tend to agree. As a result, it is clear that the crisis plaguing Nigeria is multifaceted, but one that must be addressed not only by the Nigerian Government, but our Government and the international community. Corruption. One significant issue is corruption. It is in the government at the Federal level, state level. It is in business. It is in the military. One cannot enter the country without corruption raising its insidious head. Transparency International ranks Nigeria 136 out of 168 countries. That is the bottom 20 percent. Given their population size and economic output, this means that a vast number of people have to suffer the costs and the injustice of corruption. Poverty. Despite the fact that according to the latest available data from the World Bank Nigeria is the richest country in Africa, yet there is immense poverty. Unemployment is a huge issue. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, it has been increasing since 2005 and now stands at or above 20 percent. The falling oil prices are hitting the economy broadly. The percentage of people living in poverty, at less than $1.90 a day, is 53.6 percent. That is 2009, it is probably much higher. Terrorism. According to the 2015 Global Terrorism Index, more than half, 51 percent of all global deaths attributed to a terrorist group were committed by either Boko Haram or the Islamic State. Nigeria has experienced the largest increase in terrorist deaths, more than 300 percent from 2014 to 2015, with fatalities at least 7,512 in 2015. Nine of the top 20 most fatal terrorist attacks occurred in Nigeria in 2014. The deadliest terrorist organization in the world, according to the number killed, are Boko Haram, the Islamic State, al-Shabaab, and the Fulani herdsmen. Boko Haram. Terrorism and violence continue from the well- known Boko Haram terrorist group, whose name means ``Western education is forbidden.'' According to the Global Terrorism Index 2015 for the Institute of Economics and Peace at the University Maryland, Boko Haram killed 6,664 Nigerians in 2014, more than ISIS elsewhere in the world. That makes them the single most deadly terrorist organization in the world. You would never know it listening or reading the media, but it is a fact. In a recent report by Refugees International, they indicate that reportedly 20,000 have been killed in total as a result of the insurgency. In 2015, Boko Haram pledged allegiance to ISIS. This affiliation means that Boko Haram is now part of that organization's declaration of war against both the Nigerian Government and our own Government, the American Government. Boko Haram attacks villages, conducts drive-by shootings, uses young girls as suicide bombers, they target politicians and clerics for assassination, focusing on the symbols of Western advancement such as schools, hospitals, churches, and mosques. While no one has an exact number, thousands of young girls have been abducted by Boko Haram. According to the Washington Post, young girls and women who have been raped but released by Boko Haram face extreme stigmatizing from their communities where many label them ``Boko Haram wives'' and fear that they have been radicalized. They are the victims twice. They are victims when they are captured and they are victims many times when they are released. Just last month we commemorated the 2-year anniversary of the kidnapping of the Chibok girls. And despite the loud protests in the West and the #BringBackOurGirls campaign championed by First Lady Michelle Obama and Prime Minister Cameron and many others, it is extremely doubtful that any of the girls have been released. One counselor who we met with up in the Jos area spoke, told us that the girls who have been captured may never return without a major concerted effort by the Nigerian Government and the West. And when they do return, and I am hopeful and optimistic that they will return, they will have been victims of sexual violence, and they are oftentimes pregnant and will have been forced to convert to Islam. That is what the counselor told us. Fulani herdsmen. Unfortunately, Boko Haram is not the only violent organization that plagues Nigeria. The Fulani, who I had heard very, very little about before visiting Nigeria, the Fulani herdsmen are a large tribal grouping that stretches over many northwestern African countries and follow migratory grazing patterns. Some of these herdsmen adhere to more radicalized versions of Islam, and this is having a significant and devastating impact on the predominantly Christian farming communities in the Middle Belt. The Global Terrorism Index has identified them as the fourth most deadly terrorist organization in the world. That means Nigeria has the first and the fourth most dangerous terrorist groups in their country. While we were in Nigeria, Agatu village was attacked, and I know Emmanuel will talk more about that. Two hundred to 300 were killed over a sustained 2- to 3-day attack. And the attackers did not move on, but rather occupied homes within the village. And there were reports on the ground that indicated that sophisticated resupply systems were used, including, we were told, two helicopters and boats. Attacks like this go beyond the settler-herder conflict. There has been an obvious increase in violence in 2013 and the Fulani militants killed 63; in 2014, 1,249. The IDPs, the internally displaced people. Due to the violence from groups like Boko Haram and the Fulani militants, there are thousands of internally displaced people scattered around the country. According to recent estimates, there are 2.1 million people who are internally displaced and more have fled to neighboring countries. Unofficially, however, we were told there are about 5 million who have been displaced. We have been told that 90 percent of the IDPs are dispersed among villages and are outside of official camps and therefore they are unable to access even the limited government services. In the Refugee International report, which I know the committee probably has, it is a very powerful report, a senior U.N. official was quoted as stating, ``Nigeria is our biggest failure.'' This aligns with the stories we heard over and over on the ground. Some recommendations based on the challenges. One, strategic geopolitical and national security interests are at stake. Many organizations, including local groups like the Stefanos Foundation and an international one such as MercyCorps, are doing the vital work. However, much, much, much, much more needs to be done. They are barely touching, scratching the surface of what has to be done. Congress and the U.N. should do everything it can to aid IDP camps and support efforts at distribution in novel ways for those IDPs who are not, for various reasons, in camps. The types of aid should not only include food and medicine, but psychosocial services for the rehabilitation of victims as well as for former members of Boko Haram who are attempting to reintegrate into the communities. We visited prison two different times. They said they would let us talk to Boko Haram. Each time we got there we were ready, and then they pulled them back. Groups like International Justice Mission or Shared Hope, which have done an excellent job with regard to counseling and rehabilitation of women and girls, could provide valuable training to groups and individuals. I would hope the State Department would send IJM and Shared Hope and groups like that over to work with the Nigerian Government to help them set it up. We can't just talk about this. The people who are released, they need counseling, and I think IJM and Shared Hope could do that. Congress should also investigate the connection between ISIS and Boko Haram and integrate strategies as appropriate to deal with them. It is my understanding that the NSC has internally designated Boko Haram as part of ISIS. If this is indeed the case, there should be increased funding available for security purposes. While I generally support the Leahy amendment, and Senator Leahy has been a great person on these issues and I do support it, the Nigerian military has serious problems with corruption and human rights abuses. I believe that it would be beneficial to find every way possible in which the U.S. could provide vital human rights training to the Nigerian military and security forces. There were constant stories we heard that the military came in, the police came in, the people had uniforms. Were they really the police? Were they really the military? Did they steal the uniforms? But over and over and over and over. So human rights training should be included in basic training for new recruits and promotional courses for existing soldiers. This is critical. Special envoy. I believe that a special envoy for Nigeria and the Lake Chad district, not just Nigeria, but for the Lake Chad region, could be a strategic benefit because many of the problems involve Nigeria and the surrounding countries. Such a position could be modeled after Senator Danforth, formerly the Special Envoy to Sudan, or Knox Thames, who is the Special Advisor for Religion Minorities in the Near East and South/ Central Asia. I understand there is a coordinator on Boko Haram within the State Department, and he is a good person. Perhaps this position could be elevated to that of a special envoy and expanded to include all terrorism, including the Fulani militants, human rights, refugee assistance, counseling, a one- stop, one-place coordinator. There are a lot of good people working on these issues within our own Government. However, I believe a special envoy would provide those seeking assistance a one-stop. We talk to Nigerians, they say they come to America, they don't know where to go. Do they go to the State Department? Do they go to USAID? Do they go to DOD? Who do they talk to? So I think it would be a one-stop for those seeking assistance while also coordinating with the Embassies in Nigeria, in Chad, in Cameroon, and Niger on various issues. The issue of Boko Haram and the Fulani herdsmen are not localized to Nigeria but transcend the bordering countries. A special envoy could help coordinate necessary assistance throughout the region. There was an April 23 New York Times article where it said Boko Haram moves easily across the border. So it is not just in one location. Military assistance, and I know we are doing much. The U.S. Military and other Western nations should use all possible assistance to help the Nigerian Government. We also should have churches in the West to be engaged with Nigerian churches, Catholic to Catholic, Baptist to Baptist, Anglican to Anglican, in order to help the local congregations. Also, the Multinational Joint Task Force consisting of security forces from Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Niger, and Benin, they also have to have human rights training. Lastly, the challenges that face Nigeria are great. However, I believe that the United States and other Western nations have a vested interest in confronting one of the worst crises of the current day. One of the members on our delegation said Nigeria--and it sort of caught--he said Nigeria has been fractured and forgotten. And it is my hope--and, Mr. Smith, you have done a great, and Ms. Bass, on these issues before--that this hearing will light the spark that is needed to elevate this crisis to the place that it deserves. And, lastly, I heard the musician, an Irish singer, Bono, the other day on television. There are 180 million people in Nigeria. He said if Nigeria unravels, or if part of it unravels, he said it is an existential threat to Europe. You saw the number in Nigeria? What will happen will be. So I think everything that can be done should be done. Again, thank you, Mr. Smith and Ms. Bass, for this hearing and to really kind of shine the light on it. I think it can make a big difference. [The prepared statement of Mr. Wolf follows:] [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] ---------- Mr. Smith. Mr. Wolf, thank you so very much for your testimony. Mr. Ogebe. STATEMENT OF MR. EMMANUEL OGEBE, SPECIAL COUNSEL, JUSTICE FOR JOS PROJECT Mr. Ogebe. I would like to thank you very much, Chairman Smith, for your consistency and leadership on this issue, for traveling to Nigeria to further assess the situation. I also want to thank you, Ranking Member Bass, for the breakfast you held recently on this issue, keeping the issue alive. I also want to especially thank the honorable Congressman, retired, who has crossed over to our side of the aisle. I have to say that it is a great honor to have an old champion on my right and also a young champion on my left, Ms. Sa'a, who will be speaking here shortly. Let me start by saying that last year when I testified before this subcommittee last we were discussing what then was the big threat in Nigeria. Fortunately, we dodged a missile and peaceful elections and a successful transition occurred. That was the good news. Today there is a continuing sense of insecurity from three factors and actors, and I will start with an update on Boko Haram, which is the elephant in the room. Mr. Chairman, exactly 6 months after the administration announced the FTO designation of Boko Haram before this subcommittee, Boko Haram abducted 276 girls from a school in Chibok. The world took notice, but so also did al-Qaeda, who condemned it. And so also did ISIS, who emulated it and started abducting Yazidi and Christian women in Iraq. Eleven months after that, ISIS and Boko Haram established an alliance. Mr. Chairman, in June 2014 you visited Nigeria and at that time were informed of over 1,000 Christians stranded on Gwoza Mountain, facing starvation and snakebites. By July, we saw on the news in the U.S. helicopters dropping supplies to the starving Iraqis besieged on the mountaintops, but we never saw the same for those in Nigeria. Mr. Chairman, a few weeks ago I met a survivor from that mountain who just came down in April when Boko Haram attacked them there on the mountaintop. Only about 300 of them are left. Like the Chibok girls, these people were cut off from our civilization by the terrorists for 2 whole years while the world debated what to do. This was the situation before the ISIS alliance and the spread of attacks to Niger, Cameroon, and Chad. Now, global perception of Boko Haram is determined by the watershed date of April 14, 2014. I call it BC, before Chibok, and AC, after Chibok, for illustrative purposes. The worst attack on the United Nations are caught in Abuja in the year 2011 BC, before Chibok, but the U.N. did not impose sanctions on Boko Haram until 2014 AC. So it was the Chibok abductions that actually forced them to impose sanctions on Boko Haram, not the fact that Boko Haram had bombed the United Nations building several years earlier. This is how significant Chibok is in the annals of Boko Haram. With that said, I want to use that as a small case study to show how U.S. cooperation, or lack thereof, is happening. Mr. Chairman, you will recall that at a hearing of this subcommittee in June 2014 you expressed shock that you were the first to interview an escaped Chibok schoolgirl 2 months after the abduction in spite of the reports of global partners searching for the girls. Well, 4 months after your statements, in other words 6 months A.C., after Chibok, U.S. operatives reached out to interview the girls, 6 whole months later, 4 months after you mentioned it in the subcommittee hearing. They claim they did not have access to the girls in Nigeria. In 2015, 1 year later, again 1.6 years after Chibok, Nigerian operatives requested the names of the escaped Chibok girls in the U.S. From this experience, one is not enthused by the level of cooperation between the U.S. and Nigeria in searching for the missing girls. Rather than intelligence fusion, this seems to me like intelligence confusion. Now, the one quick update I would give with regard to what Boko Haram is doing is what was mentioned earlier by Ranking Member Bass, that these young girls are now being used as human bombs, not suicide bombers, and this is considerably the worst thing that is happening on the planet--the very notion that someone would abduct your daughter, strap her with bombs, and use her to blow up other people's daughters. Boko Haram has deployed over 100 girls since June 2014. The second threat, which I call the new elephant in the room, is the Fulani herdsmen who perpetrated a massacre in Agatu, Benue State, killing hundreds in February and March, and also massacred a community in Enugu State this month. Fulani herdsmen have accounted for over 6,000 deaths in 5 years, equivalent to those killed by Boko Haram last year. They have been described as the fourth-deadliest terrorist group in the world. But I do not think they are terrorists in the traditional sense. They are historically jihadists. Their modus is more local jihad than global jihad, unlike Boko Haram, but they are more brutal and have attacked more states in Nigeria than Boko Haram. An alliance between them is suspected because in 2012 Boko Haram actually claimed responsibility for a herdsmen attack in which a Nigerian senator was skilled. This is public information, Boko Haram issued a statement claiming. So there is a strong likelihood that there is a linkage. An alliance between them could be most deadly because of their ability to operate freely across west Africa. Nigerians are gravely alarmed at these recent attacks, especially as Fulani spokesmen have claimed they have special protection under the incumbent President, who is also Fulani. In southeast Nigeria, many Igbos who have fled the north because of Boko Haram's targeted attacks are upset that the Fulani herdsmen are attacking them on their own soil, especially after the south conceded the Presidency to the north in the last election. The Fulani herdsmen are more medieval than Boko Haram and there is a pervasive sense in Nigeria that they are now a serious national security concern. The U.S. continues to view the herdsmen attacks as simply a product of climate change and farmer-herder competition for land, notwithstanding that people are killed in their homes by intruders. The U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom has consistently raised an alarm on this for several years. The third threat is the Iranian-backed Shiites led by Sheikh al-Zakzaky and they have been a dreadful nuisance to communities in northwest Nigeria. But they are not terrorists. The reported massacre of over 300 Shiites by the Nigerian Army 6 months ago is unfortunate as it has the potential to create yet another insurgent group in the country, but this time one with greater capacity and with full support of a known state- sponsor of terror. A Boko Haram alliance would be catastrophic, but it is intriguing that Boko Haram allied with an Iraqi group first before another Nigerian group. I should point out that Nigeria confiscated 13 container loads of arms sent from Iran to Nigeria. It is debatable whether the arms were meant for Boko Haram or for the Shiites. Nigeria has detained Sheikh al-Zakzaky for months. The U.S. has not pressed these human rights violations as strongly as it did the deaths of Boko Haram suspects killed during a jailbreak attack on a military barracks under the former President even though this is how Boko Haram mutated from an extremist sect to a terrorist group. I will round up with recommendations. I believe U.S. policy formulation on northern Nigeria should be informed by the terrorist, jihadi universe. As Bishop Matthew Kukah stated recently, the Government of America must ``take full responsibility for how it shapes leadership around the world,'' arguing that policies and conflicts around the world bear consequences for the people of northern Nigeria. We are suffering the ``collateral damage,'' he lamented. There have been more protests in northern Nigeria against the U.S. and Israel than there have been against the Nigerian Government over the years. That the world today is facing a clash of civilizations is undebatable. Standing by Nigeria as a worthy ally to end the insurgency is critical to regional security. Nigeria has historically been a receiver, not an exporter of refugees, and this crisis has reduced its capacity as a regional power and a global player in international peacekeeping, as you referenced earlier. Secondly, this Congress has a key to address the humanitarian crisis before it deteriorates further by passing a bill to utilize assets forfeited from Nigeria in a victim compensation fund. Funds looted abroad by a former NSA were repatriated to Nigeria only to be relooted again, allegedly, by the last NSA. H.R. 528 would help victims like Habila Adamu, who testified before this subcommittee but remains unemployed and has lost family members since he survived kill shots to his head. The entire assault on Borno, which has been mostly neglected in relief efforts, could also benefit from that kind of fund. It appears that repentant terrorists appear to be getting more personal attention than the victims, and this in itself is a travesty. The U.S. Government should press Nigeria to stave the relentless bloodshed occasioned by the Fulani herdsmen. The U.N. should categorize Nigeria as a level three humanitarian crisis and the U.S. and this Congress should recognize Boko Haram's atrocities as genocide. I have several other recommendations which you can see on page 16 of my written testimony, as well as page 18 of my written testimony, and I ask that you kindly enter this in the record. [The prepared statement of Mr. Ogebe follows:] [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] ---------- Mr. Smith. Without objection, so ordered. And any extraneous material any of you would like will be made a part of the record. Mr. Ogebe. I thank you, sir. Mr. Smith. Ms. Sa'a. The floor is yours. STATEMENT OF ``SA'A'', CHIBOK SCHOOLGIRL, EDUCATION MUST CONTINUE INITIATIVE Sa'a. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Two years ago the terrorist group Boko Haram attacked my school at Chibok when we were all sleeping at night. They were shooting guns and yelling ``Allahu Akbar.'' They asked, where are the boys? They also asked where the food is. They made us move from where we were staying to the class area. They started burning everything, our clothes, our books, our classrooms, and everything in our school. Then they made us walk far away from the school and forced us to enter a truck. If we did not they are going to shoot all of us. We were all scared so we entered the truck. When we were all riding through the forest, I had this feeling that I should try and escape because I don't know where I am going and neither do my parents. We didn't know. I said to one of my friends that I am going to jump out of the truck and escape. She said, ``Okay,'' she is going to jump out with me. I jumped out first and she jumped out after me. We hid in the forest while they passed. It was very dark. We didn't know where we are. My friend hurt both of her legs from jumping out of the truck. She couldn't walk. She cried. She said to me that I should go home and let her die in the forest. I said, ``No, if we are going to die, we are going to die together. I am not going to leave you here.'' I decided to go and look for help. I was going not far from where we slept. I found a Fulani man, a shepherd. I asked him for help but, he said, ``No.'' So I tried and convince him. Then he did help us. He put my friend on his bicycle and took us to Chibok, and that is how we got home. After we escaped, Mr. Emmanuel Ogebe with the Justice for Jos Project, with Congressman Chairman Chris Smith, came to Nigeria to find out what happened. They met my friend who escaped with me and heard our story. Mr. Emmanuel Ogebe found a school for her to study in the U.S. She told them if they giving her a scholarship to come to study, she would like me to come too because I was the one who helped her. My friend told me about the opportunity, but I told her that I am not coming to school because of what happened. That was the second attack that both of us had been through. When Boko Haram kidnapped us they asked, ``Why are you at school?'' They said, we should all be married. They said that we should not go to school again or they will find us. I felt like if I go to school again they will kidnap us wherever we are. My brothers and friends encouraged me that I should not let Boko Haram stop me from getting an education, I should come and study. I am glad I listened to them and I'm here today. I started college in January under a project by the Education Must Continue Initiative, www.emcinitiative.org. It is run by the victims of the insurgency for victims of the insurgency which has helped me and about 3,000 other IDP kids to go to school. I have learned a lot since I came to the U.S. I went to the National Archives and I saw the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. I even saw a version of the Magna Carta. I learned that the people who wrote those documents have faced hard times through the years, but they didn't give up, and hope and freedom won. When I heard Patrick Henry said, ``Give me liberty or give me death,'' I realized that was exactly how I felt when I had to decide about jumping out of the truck to escape from Boko Haram. Here in the U.S., I stood under the Capitol dome and looked up at the statute on the top called Armed Freedom and realized that freedom has to have strength protecting it. I want to study medicine. I want to help Nigeria, but will it be safe? I have twice escaped Boko Haram attacks on my schools, but many have not. Many live in fear every day. Thanks to God, I am safely here in the U.S. and doing well in my studies, but I am worried about my family in Nigeria. People ask me if it will be safe for me to return to Nigeria. I ask: Is it safe for everyone in the northern Nigeria? I lost my dad months ago. It wasn't the terrorism but the effects of the terrorism. I urge everyone who hears or reads this statement who has any power to help Nigeria to please help and also help some of my Chibok classmates who didn't get the opportunity that I have today to be in school safely. I want them to be able to go to school too, especially my Chibok classmates and my friend Hauwa John, who has been denied a visa at the American Embassy in Nigeria three times. When I saw the video of some of my missing classmates and recognized some of their faces, I cried with tears of joy, thanking God for their lives. Seeing them has given me courage to tell the world that we should not lose hope. I have had dreams. Some of the dreams were scary, but now my dreams are good. I have a dream of a safe Nigeria, a Nigeria where girls can go to school without fear of being kidnapped; a Nigeria where girls like me are not made into suicide bombers and little boys are not routinely stolen and turned into terrorists; a Nigeria where, if even the worst happens and children were stolen, every effort is made for their swift rescue, and those who can help will help, and those who can help will speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. I dream and pray for freedom, safety, and peace to win in Nigeria. Thank you. [The prepared statement of Sa'a follows:] [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] ---------- Mr. Smith. Thank you so very much for your powerful words and powerful inspiration and your powerful witness to faith, character, and courage. It truly astonishing. Thank you so much. Dr. Fomunyoh. STATEMENT OF CHRISTOPHER FOMUNYOH, PH.D., SENIOR ASSOCIATE AND REGIONAL DIRECTOR FOR CENTRAL AND WEST AFRICA, NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTE Mr. Fomunyoh. Thank you, Chairman Smith and Ranking Member Ms. Bass. Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, on behalf of the National Democratic Institute, NDI, I appreciate this opportunity to discuss current security challenges and threats in northern Nigeria. This is a summary of my written testimony, and I request that it be made part of the record. Mr. Smith. Without objection, so ordered. Mr. Fomunyoh. Since Nigeria's 1999 transition from military to civilian rule, NDI has worked closely with Nigerian legislators, political party leaders, and civil society activists to support democratic institutions and practices in the country. With funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.S. Department of State, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the Ford Foundation, and the UK's Department for International Development (DFID), NDI's work has helped to support Nigerian efforts to advance democratic governance and electoral processes that reflect the will of the people. In May 2015, Nigeria's newly elected President, President Muhammadu Buhari took office following the elections that saw the country's first peaceful transfer of power from one political party to another. President Buhari and his government inherited several major economic and security challenges, particularly in the country's northern states, where approximately 40,000 people have been killed by violence between 2011 and 2015. The region has experienced political and economic marginalization, unbalanced development, corruption, and poor delivery of public services. Northeast Nigeria has also borne the brunt of the ongoing surge of violent extremism. Boko Haram, a group that promotes a fundamentalist religious ideology, has cost nearly 15,000 deaths since 2009. Moreover, more than 2.2 million Nigerians are internally displaced with approximately 200,000 others now refugees in neighboring countries. Also, the vast majority of approximately 5.4 million people that need emergency food assistance across the Lake Chad Basin region are Nigerian, as Boko Haram-related violence has divested infrastructure and disrupted economic activity. Human Rights Watch estimates that over 2,000 schools in northern Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin countries of Cameroon, Chad, and Niger have closed or been destroyed by the Boko Haram insurgency. In March 2015, Boko Haram pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, ISIS, declaring itself the Islamic State's West Africa Province. Besides the Boko Haram crisis in the northeast, intercommunal conflicts between agrarian and pastoralist communities have cost 6,000 deaths since 2011, about 600 of which have occurred since the beginning of this year. A 2015 report by Mercy Corps, a U.S.-based organization, found that violence has contributed to negative economic growth and that Nigeria could gain approximately $13.7 billion a year in macroeconomic activity in the four most affected states because of the agrarian-pastoralist conflict. The communities most affected are northern and central Nigeria and the Middle Belt, stretching from Kwara and Niger States in the west to Adamawa State in the east. Recently, intercommunal skirmishes have occurred in the country's southeast zone, underscoring the national ramifications of simmering tensions and violence. In my full statement, I trace the origins and consequences of the conflicts and offer a series of recommendations for consideration by both Nigeria and the international community, among which they need to expedite the creation of a comprehensive development agency for northeast Nigeria that could prioritize long-term economic development, review the legal framework on indigenization and access to land, introduce stronger citizen-centered approaches to state and local governments, invest in further professionalization of security services, support rehabilitation and resiliency of impacted communities and individuals, promote women and youth as agents of peace, and enhance educational opportunities, particularly for girls. Despite its challenges, Nigeria has in the past proven its resilience. By using its public resources wisely and improving governance at the local, state, and Federal levels, the leaders of Africa's largest economy and most populous country can still deliver on the promise of democracy and the dividends that many Nigerians expect of their government, especially in the northern regions of the country. More inclusive and responsive governance, especially at the local level, would help sustain for the long-term the military gains against Boko Haram and ongoing efforts to tackle terrorism and skirmishes that impact negatively on citizens' well-being and undermine national cohesion. Since the peaceful and credible Nigerian elections of March 2015, the international community has more forcefully expressed its opposition of Nigerian efforts to tackle forthrightly corruption, insecurity, and economic development. The international community should redouble its support through greater and more robust partnerships with Nigerians at the subnational levels, directly in the northern states and local government areas most impacted by terrorist-related and/or criminal violence. Direct assistance to locally based institutions and social citizen-led initiatives would have greater impact and likelihood to be sustainable over the long term. In addition to security and other forms of material assistance, the international community should prioritize human development expertise that can address the trauma that the violence of the last few years has inflicted on youth, women, girls, and other underprivileged segments of society in northern Nigeria. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. [The prepared statement of Mr. Fomunyoh follows:] [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] ---------- Mr. Smith. Doctor, thank you so very much for your testimony and your insights and recommendations. We expect a series of votes at 3:45, so what I thought is that each of us who have questions, that we ask our questions, and if there is more time and if some can stay after the votes, we could reconvene the hearing if that would be acceptable to you. But I have got to be aware of your time as well. So I will just throw out a few couple of questions and yield to my good friend Ms. Bass. And take the questions you would like, and as best you can, please answer them. On the IDPs, doctor, you mentioned 2.2 million IDPs, 200,000 refugees. Every trip I make there, every conversation with the administration is, are we doing enough to help them? When Mr. Ogebe, took us to an IDP camp--it was really a motel-- in Jos, where we met this unbelievably tremendous man who had been shot by Boko Haram, would not renounce his faith in Christ, and then survived. He was in the IDP camp and told his story. And then we brought him over here for testimony. The question is, are we doing enough for this group of people? Secondly, on the military, when we kept hearing how the Leahy law was the obstacle, we convened a hearing of this subcommittee, and the administration said that at least half or more of all of the military in Nigeria could be properly vetted pursuant to the Leahy amendment and get the specialized training that they need. Are you agreeable? Do you believe we are doing enough to train vetted, non-human-rights-abusers in the best military tactics, as well as with the kind of weaponry and capabilities, like night-vision goggles, that they would need? And, finally, the special envoy idea of Mr. Wolf, you championed that for the Middle East, which is now up and running. You did it for Darfur, and that took years, as we all recall, but it made a difference. I am wondering, that is something we might look to do a bill on, or maybe we could just admonish the administration to create it administratively, which they certainly have the ability to do. And, Mr. Ogebe, you mentioned the Chibok schoolgirl, as did Sa'a, who can't get a visa. That is outrageous. We need to follow up on that and perhaps others who are also being disallowed entry into the United States. Ms. Bass. Ms. Bass. Well, first of all, thank you all for your testimony. And I agree with my colleague here: We would like to do everything that we can in terms of a visa for this one person but also any other individuals. And I just wonder, Sa'a, to the extent that you are in contact, one, how is your family doing there? Are you in contact with any of the other girls who escaped? And maybe you can answer that. Mr. Smith. Any other questions that you have? Ms. Bass. No, and I will yield to my colleague here, Ms. Wilson. Ms. Wilson. Yes, that is a good question. That is a question that I would like to hear the answer also. Also, about the people who are displaced from their homes, is anything being done to find housing for them? Also, I don't know if anyone can answer the question, maybe the chairman of the subcommittee, about the funds, the confiscated funds from Nigeria, that can be used to help some of these internally displaced persons. Maybe Chairman Smith would want to give us some insight on what we are doing moving toward that. Mr. Smith. I don't think we are doing enough, number one. Ms. Wilson. We are not doing enough. Mr. Smith. At previous hearings, I asked that there be established a victims' compensation fund. Ms. Wilson. Yes. Mr. Smith. And that could be done by the government, their government as well as ours working in tandem, and the prototype for it would be what we did for the 9/11 victims. And that victims' compensation fund so positively impacted many of my own constituents who lost loved ones and jobs, obviously, through 9/11. But not enough is being done. Ms. Wilson. Not enough. And it appears as if some genocide has taken place. And it seems like there is going to be a whole generation of children who are not being educated because the schools are being destroyed. There are 3,000 schools that Boko Haram has destroyed. And I am just concerned about, it is almost as if there is a fence of apartheid that has been put around, erected around Nigeria and the other neighboring countries, and it is almost as if the world is saying: Leave them there. It is Africans killing Africans, so why should we bother? And then when the New York Times and the Washington Post puts in the headline that Boko Haram is the most deadly terrorist organization in the world and they have killed more people than ISIS or any other terrorist organization, and then it just fades away. This is mind-boggling to me. And I wonder in my heart and soul what, Chairman Smith and the subcommittee, what should we be doing? What can we do as a country? We can't just pretend that it is not happening and that this fence of apartheid is there. It takes us back many years when we had to go through this with South Africa. So I am just wondering: Do we need to start a revolution? Do we need to march to the White House? Do we need to march to Nigeria? What is it do you think we can do, Sheila, all of us, as a Congress? Because everyone is concerned. It is not just us. It is so many people. And we realize that when we do the red Wednesdays, and when we have the press conference and we have the hearings, Mr. Wolf, and all of you should see us. So it is still the same. So that is why I came today and that is my question. Mr. Smith. Well, I will yield to my good friend and colleague, Mr. Donovan, in a second, but it has been my observation over 36 years as a Member of Congress that this is what we do everywhere. When the Balkans were under siege by Serbia, we fiddled. We said: It is not our problem; it is Europe's problem. They said: It is not our problem. And hundreds of thousands of people died. On the Armenians, obviously, they said that 100 years ago, almost to the year, during the Armenian genocide when everybody looked askance and they still don't recognize it in many parts of the world, including in the United States Government. I think it is gross indifference. There might be a tinge of racism in there. I don't know that, but it seems every continent has it, and we look the other way. That doesn't mean that we need military intervention 24/7---- Ms. Wilson. Right. Mr. Smith [continuing]. But the Nigerians have a very capable military. Their soldiers are outstanding. I mentioned that in my opening that they are peacekeepers. They just need a special skill set that we learned over time that needs to be imparted to them. And we have been reluctant, citing the Leahy amendment, falsely, I believe, as the impediment. So but I think what you have done, what Karen Bass and all of us have tried to do is just keep it front and center. We had a hearing yesterday on the crackdown in Vietnam, which is profound. And I had the wife of a dissident that I met in 2005 who got arrested again and is probably being tortured. The President is going there. We begged the President to ask that Nguyen Van Dai be released and the other 180 or so political prisoners in Vietnam. We just need to make these priorities. And so I take your point and thank you for keeping---- Ms. Wilson. Thank you. Mr. Smith [continuing]. The girls front and center 24/7. Mr. Donovan. Mr. Donovan. Thank you, Chairman. I just wanted to know if anyone knew an update on our efforts to find the remaining girls and if you could tell us what we are doing in those efforts. And, also, I am on the Committee on Homeland Security, so one of the things that we do when we talk about terrorist groups is try to measure the number of members of the group. Do we have any idea of the size of Boko Haram, their leadership, and the territories in which their strongholds are, where their leadership works out of? So those are most of my questions, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Smith. Ms. Jackson Lee. Ms. Jackson Lee. I am going to thank, Mr. Chairman, you and your ranking member for the courtesies of extending to those of us who have joined and have been joined at the hip on this issue of Boko Haram. And I think it has been 2 years that Congresswoman Wilson and I have been joined at the hip going from one ocean to the next on this issue. And I thank you so very much for what you are doing. Mr. Chairman, if I might, I have H.R. 528, which I would like to bring to the committee's attention, and whether we could have a hearing. It is Victims of Terror Protection Act, and it deals with the Abacha loot, which the DOJ has, and I, frankly, believe they can begin to utilize that money ASAP. Maybe a hearing would be appropriate, and I would like to share that with you. I think you reviewed it and supported it, and so I would like to do that. And one of my questions is going to be, how desperately this relief is needed to have--and I am sure with the wonderful witnesses that we have had from our Chibok girl, how should I say it, leader, champion for the other girls, I know she has told the story, but I would like to hear that again or hear it maybe for the first time, because when we were in Nigeria 2 years ago and when I heard you being there recently, families were still in pain. They are still in limbo. Some are just surviving with their young girls missing, and maybe they have lost. Certainly, Boko Haram have killed--and I want to make this point, and maybe it was already made--Muslims, Christians, and others. They have killed and burned mosques and churches and homes and schools, and they also have recruited. So if I could, under this relief fund, find out how desperately it is in need. And then a second question, if I could hear about the recruitment. What could we do to stem the tide of recruitment of young boys alongside--the overall question is what we can do to bring the girls back, but I know there are broken families that are there. If we could do that. And then to Congressman Wolf, thank you so very much. I would like to join on the question of legislation dealing with the special envoy. We have dealt with envoys in South Sudan, but we have had them in other areas as well as in the Lake Chad area. You, Mr.--I want to still call you Mr. Chairman--Mr. Wolf, knew when the Africa Command was done and the appropriations that were done in the Africa Command may be in combination of a discussion that you had that I would like to ask about how much value you think an envoy would bring, but besides the Leahy amendment, just what we might do. We have an African Command. When I was there, they were eager. They were doing technical assistance. Maybe you saw them doing the same thing. And that was technical assistance because they were eager to help bring the girls back, and this was in the early weeks and days that Congresswoman Wilson and Congresswoman Frankel and I were there and Congressman Chabot, I believe, was there. They were eager. They were in meetings. They were saying: We are almost there. And so maybe you can help us understand that. This is not the Committee on Armed Services, but you can have us understand what that might do if we could ramp that team up beyond where they are today. I understand they are advising, but the growth around Chad, Niger, and other areas, I would be interested in hearing back. I yield back, Mr. Chairman, thank you. Mr. Wolf. I will be really brief. One, the IDPs are not getting assistance, and the camps are some of the worst camps that I have seen. Secondly, on the training of the military and police, it is training both there is an awareness of it but not the compliance, and so there needs to be in-depth. We were in villages. They said the military came in and fired; the police came in and fired. Did they capture the uniforms? I don't know. But awareness, but also compliance. Thirdly, on the special envoy, when Danforth spoke, it was all together. In those days, you had Kenya involved. You had Uganda involved. You had Eritrea briefly involved, aiding John Garang, and you had Ethiopia involved. One person, and it was a one-stop office, and Andrew Natsios, so you had a place to go. The President had one person to talk to. This is not meant as criticism of the people that are working on this. But that process, so to have a special envoy, one stop. Also, for counseling of the girls, to say we are concerned about them, but are you giving counseling when these people--they are victims twice: When they are captured and when they are released. Yeah, so there needs to be a one stop, and then everyone knows. The press knows that in one office, that one person speaks. So I think a special envoy, the right person, but again, no criticism, this is not meant to say that is wrong. It could really be to elevate that, could really be-- otherwise, what are you going to do? What? And then you have a military person, and they can speak to the military. Our military are good. I believe, how did the helicopters come in without our people not seeing it? How did boats come across the river without our people not seeing it? So, yes, there is more, but you have to--it is not covered by the media the way it should. And yes, this is a very important issue, but more for the IDPs, more training and a special envoy, I think the right person could make all of the difference. And, lastly, the families, the families, we did not talk to. We talked to the counselors who counselled the families. I think she can better say. But the counselors said the families were hopeful. They saw all of this hashtag. Now, they are disappointed. Ms. Jackson Lee. Despair is settling in. Mr. Ogebe. Yes, sir. With regard to the refugees, in Cameroon, the camp that had 2,000 people now has 60,000 people. And so 500 a week have been coming in, and there are still people outside waiting to get in. But for my current report, what I learned is they now have food. When there were 2,000, there was no food in the camp, but now, the U.N. is able to provide them. We understand some of that is through U.S. assistance. Now, that said, the IDP situation in Nigeria is very bad. We have the whole southern border. There are not more than two IDP counselors in the entire half of the state. So when we had the start of the school for IDP kids, 2,000 kids enrolled in 1 week. That is how bad the situation is. The kids have been there 4 years; no school. They trek miles just to come to that one school. So there is much to be done. Mr. Smith. Is it the money? Mr. Ogebe. Well, sir, we have been trying to find out why the southern half of that state is not being taken care of. And it is part of, we suspect, the religious discrimination that systematically occurs in that state, because that half is not from the right religion. So we have related this issue with the Government of Nigeria, and we don't know what the response will be. I thought you had a question. Sa'a. You asked if I am in touch with my family. I am always in touch with my family and some of my classmates that escaped too. Some of them are in school in Nigeria, while some of them got married. Some of them got pregnant, which I think because they were scared to go to school because it is not safe there in Nigeria. So they don't want to go to school. And so some of them who think like they want to go to school, they were in school in Nigeria, while some of them got married. Thank you. Ms. Bass. Thank you. Mr. Fomunyoh. Mr. Chairman, on your question on the IDPs, I will agree this is a very serious issue. Because of the 2.2 million internally displaced persons, only 8 percent are in camps and under conditions that could use a lot of help. And so we have the other 92 percent of internally displaced persons that are spread in communities, in families, and nobody seems to be tracking them. And so that is the first issue with regard to IDPs. There is also a question of identifying who is in those camps and the concerns that some of the former elements of Boko Haram, especially now that they are on the run, could infiltrate the camps and use the camps as staging ground for other atrocities. There have been reports of people arrested in the refugee camp that a number of them fled to in Cameroon who were identified with Boko Haram. On the question of the military, of course, I couldn't be competent to talk about that, but my understanding is that there are currently two battalions that are being trained with technical assistance from the U.S. and that human rights has been incorporated into the curriculum. But, of course, I am sure other people are more qualified to discuss that issue with you, Mr. Chairman. The question about the generational handicap. That is really the concern that many of us have with regards to Nigeria, because we now are coming up to a decade since Boko Haram began these atrocities. And so we have a decade of young people who have not been able to go to school. I did mention the fact that 2,000 schools have been closed or destroyed in the course of this conflict. And so you have a whole generation that is coming of age that has not had basic secondary education. And without that, that is going to short access for them in terms of higher education. If you haven't had secondary education, you can't go to the university, which therefore means that they are not going to be able to have gainful employment. They are not going to be able to have good jobs. And so if you fast forward in the next 10 years, this vast majority of the segment of young people would be without access to gainful employment. And so, in some ways, you almost would think that, even if Boko Haram is defeated militarily, if all the concrete steps are not taken to provide avenues and opportunities for this generation of young people who have been starved of the possibility of gaining education, then we are probably just resolving one issue today and the problem will resurface in another 5 or 10 years. The last thing I would want to talk about is the idea of a special envoy. Before coming to the hearings, I hadn't really thought through the issue. But I want to draw some inspiration in terms of the military gains that have been made against Boko Haram in recent months. The fact that the multinational force being stood up, has helped tackle this issue with the involvement of other countries in the subregion. And if that has worked from a military perspective, I think the rehabilitation and reconstruction of northeastern Nigeria would require a multinational approach and sometimes having a one- stop shop and someone who can centralize all of these issues, because there will be people coming from Chad, from Cameroon, from Niger with similar issues, would facilitate the U.S.'s ability to be able to lend some weight in the reconstruction and rehabilitation of northeastern Nigeria. Mr. Smith. Thank you. We are almost out of time, but, Congressman Wolf and both of you, thank you for the encouragement. We will put together a draft bill on a special envoy and begin the process. And, again, the administration can do this without any bill whatsoever. But there might be pushback. Sometimes there is on something like this. So thank you for the idea. And I think it will help provide a focus that may be lacking to some degree, particularly on the humanitarian side with IDPs. And as both of you have said, the services and help just simply are not there. You know, Buhari, when he got elected, there were high expectations that things would change. There is a multinational force. There is a taking-it-to-them mentality that did not exist previously. And I am wondering if those expectations are ebbing, waning, or is there still a significant hope that Boko Haram can be defeated and, hopefully, God willing, the Chibok girls and other girls that have been abducted so cruelly, return to their families? And can I just add, because we only have--and anything else my distinguished colleagues might want to say--the use of the churches and mosques in bringing the women back, are they being employed in a way that is effective? Because there was a great deal of love in those churches and what I took away from our trip to Jos is how well the imam and Archbishop Kaigama worked together, Muslims, Catholics, other Christians working across those lines. It was extraordinary. Mr. Ogebe. Yes, sir. Well, I think my response to that is that we certainly need to see more humanitarian responses that will stave off a generational conflict because that is what we see brewing, as the gentleman alluded to. But let me just say for the record that Boko Haram has attacked citizens of different countries. They have killed citizens of over 15 countries, and they have attacked citizens of the U.S. as well. But to this date, the State Department has not admitted that Boko Haram has done so. And that is part of why we feel there isn't sufficient transparency and political will to push this issue as far as it needs to go. Mr. Smith. Thank you so much. We will act on your recommendations. They have been excellent and incisive. Ms. Jackson Lee. Just very quickly, for another time, the recruitment issue is very important. Mr. Chairman, I would like to--I am not on the subcommittee, but I would like to work with you on the envoy, if I may. My staff will be in touch. Thank you. Mr. Smith. Thank you. The hearing is adjourned. [Whereupon, at 4:05 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.] A P P E N D I X ---------- Material Submitted for the Record [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] Material submitted for the record by the Honorable Christopher H. Smith, a Representative in Congress from the State of New Jersey, and chairman, Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]