Nigerians Outraged as Reports Expose USAID’s Funding of Boko Haram Terrorists

US Congressman Scott Perry has publicly accused the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) of financing terrorist organizations, including ISIS, al-Qaeda, and their local affiliates such as Boko Haram in Nigeria.

Perry made these explosive claims on Thursday during the first session of the Congressional Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE), a newly formed advisory body established by former President Donald Trump. Notably, Trump appointed billionaire Elon Musk to lead the initiative.

The advisory body, created to curb excessive government spending, has faced intense controversy, with critics accusing it of unlawfully obstructing the work of multiple federal agencies. Among them is USAID, which has been forced to halt its global operations amid mounting scrutiny.

Musk has described USAID as a “viper’s nest of radical-left Marxists who hate America”. He also accused it of engaging in “rogue CIA work” and funding bioweapon research, including COVID-19.

Terrorism funding

According to Perry, the USAID’s annual budget of $697 million including cash shipments to madrasas (Islamic schools), has inadvertently funded terrorist training camps and extremist groups.

“Your money, $697 million annually, plus shipments of cash, funds ISIS, al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, ISIS Khorasan, and terrorist training camps,” he said in a minute video now circulating across social media. “That’s what it’s funding,”

Perry also faulted the USAID’s $136 million expenditure on building 120 schools in Pakistan. He revealed that the schools were never built.

He also questioned the USAID’s Islamic education programs in Pakistan, which reportedly cost $840 million over the past two decades.

Mr Perry pointed to an additional $20 million spent on making educational television programs for children who, he claimed, cannot attend physical schools because they “don’t exist.”

The congressman also questioned the $60 million Women’s Scholarship Endowment and $5 million Young Women Lead programs by the USAID in Afghanistan.

Citing the fact that the Taliban government in Afghanistan do not allow women to speak in public, Mr Perry said the $60 million programme is a mirage unlikely to benefit Afghan women.

“You are funding terrorism, and it’s coming through USAID,” he said.

Terrorism funding in Nigeria

The Nigerian government continues to battle terrorism on multiple fronts, particularly in the Northeast, where soldiers face ongoing clashes with Boko Haram and its breakaway faction, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).

Now approaching its second decade, the insurgency shows no signs of ending. Military officials and analysts point to several reasons for its persistence, with external funding playing a major role.

Both Boko Haram and ISWAP have received financial backing from the Islamic State. However, after the 2016 split that divided the factions, Boko Haram was left to sustain itself through taxation and violent raids on villages, while ISWAP, despite its external funding, also continues to extort civilians under its control.