News / Interviews

Nigeria situation being played from outside: Pundit

Friday, 24 June 2016 2:23 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 24 June 2016 2:24 PM ]

Women and children stand next to a makeshift tent in a camp in the village of Kidjendi near Diffa as displaced families fled from Boko Haram attacks in Bosso, Nigeria, June 19, 2016. (AFP photo)

Press TV has interviewed Douglas DeGroot, a member of the Executive Intelligence Review in Leesburg, about the situation of the displaced people in northeastern Nigeria.

A rough transcription of the interview appears below.

Press TV: This is certainly quite a harrowing story, twelve-hundred people starving to death at a camp?

DeGroot: Yes it is. The situation has of course been developing for some time because this phenomenon described as Boko Haram has no plans for how to run a government or represent itself as an option. It has been extremely destructive. The government has in response been unable to guarantee markets and so on to be opened in various towns in the north so people cannot market any goods and so on and others cannot come to markets and buy food. So it is a very, very dangerous situation which has been getting worse over time.

Press TV: How do you feel about the fact that Nigeria, Niger and Cameron have for a while at least seemingly been fighting as Boko Haram, where are they going wrong?

DeGroot: The situation to look at is from a bigger perspective as to who is behind this overall operation and why. Remember that some months ago, the president of Chad said that all the Boko Haram people they have captured, all had French arms, so it indicates one thing. Now we know the French have cooperated very closely with the United States, we know the previous government in Nigeria would not cooperate with the United States because the United States would not help them with helicopters and things, despite of the fight. That has since been changed with a new government but nothing has been changed in terms of all of this fight...

There is a tremendous fight going on inside Nigeria, the north versus south, the old colonial division in the country which has been activated in others’ opposition, attacks on the oil infrastructure in the south, putting more pressure on the government overall whereas before Boko Haram was an attack more in the interest, some would think of the north but it is not really a Nigerian situation.

It is being played from the outside and it is affecting all of these three countries and the previous government did not accept the US cooperation, this one has, nothing has really changed from that, so some are wondering if this kind of report coming out now is preparing the grounds for more of some kind of American intervention, if you will, into this situation.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk