ABSTRACT
In recent times, scholars have broadened the study of the Boko Haram terrorism to include contentious issues of human rights abuses by the security forces in their counterterrorist operations. However, scholarly analysis is yet to engage the implementation of Leahy law by the United States (US) in response to these impunities. This chapter interrogates the implementation of the Leahy law in the context of the inability of the Nigerian government to halt human rights abuses by the military. Designed to advance basic human rights globally by prohibiting American military assistance to foreign military units implicated for human rights abuses, the implementation of the Leahy law in Nigeria has not only failed to advance human rights in the country, it has also exposed the inconsistency inherent in the human rights policy of the US. Drawing on secondary sources and extant literature, the study argues that the arms embargo imposed on Nigeria by the US had little to do with human rights concerns.
