The Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Christopher Musa, has said the relentless military onslaught against terrorists in Zamfara State has thrown notorious terrorist kingpin Bello Turji into a desperate scramble for escape. Musa also said the elimination of two of his top commanders, Kachalla Gwammade and Kachalla Shehu on Thursday night has sent shivers down the spine of Turji. He stated this on Friday at the closing ceremony of the CDS Joint Task Force Commanders Conference in Abuja. “In a follow-up operation, troops advanced into Tufan and Mashima villages, further dislodging armed groups and pushing them deeper into the forest. “In a symbolic strike against banditry, the security forces also returned to the once-cleared area of Bello Turji. “The remaining portions of his camp, previously targeted in past offensives, were obliterated in a final suit to erase his presence from the region. “Reports indicate that both Turji and Sani Black are now in this area desperately seeking escape...
Several netizens have raised concerns and called for a systemic investigation into how USAID health funds allocated to Nigeria have been spent amid widespread dissatisfaction.
The U.S. Agency for International Development allocated approximately $2.8bn to Nigeria between 2022 and 2024, according to data from the United States Foreign Assistance Dashboard.
The platform serves as the primary source for budgetary and financial data from U.S. government agencies managing foreign assistance portfolios.
Before President Donald Trump’s second election, USAID faced significant controversy, with critics accusing the agency of inadequate oversight in its funding mechanisms, which could have led to resource misallocation.
In 2024, USAID came under fire for funding organisations allegedly linked to terrorist groups, raising concerns about the agency’s vetting processes.
In response, Trump issued an executive order on January 20, 2025, suspending all U.S. foreign aid for 90 days, citing misalignment with American interests and concerns about global destabilisation.
The directive led to the furlough of thousands of USAID staff worldwide, with overseas employees instructed to return to the U.S. within weeks.
Amid the controversy, data from Financial Aid revealed that in 2024, the U.S. agency disbursed a total of $41bn to no fewer than 206 countries, including Nigeria, which received $780m.
In 2023, USAID allocated $72bn to 209 countries, with $1bn disbursed to Nigeria. Similarly, in 2022, the agency released $74bn to fund 21,000 programs in at least 212 countries, and Nigeria received $970m.
Over the three years, Nigeria received a total of $2.75bn from USAID. Of this, $1.469bn was allocated for health, $887m for humanitarian services, $141.77m for economic development, $41.75m for education, and $16.39m for peace and security, with the remaining funds directed toward program support, democracy, human rights, governance, and other sectors.
Among those calling investigation into how USAID health funds allocated to Nigeria have been spent amid widespread dissatisfaction over the chronic underfunding, dilapidated infrastructure, and energy crises faced by several federal teaching hospitals in the country is a netizen, Sir Dickson@Wizarab10, posted on Tuesday.
He wrote, “Nigeria has received more than $5 billion in USAID funding, yet there has been no meaningful development that the funding has been used for. For instance, in the Nigerian Healthcare Sector, there was “The HIV/AIDS Program Scandal/Fraud” where a 2017 audit by the USAID Inspector General (OIG) found that millions of dollars in HIV/AIDS funds were lost due to mismanagement and non-oversight of how the money was spent on HIV prevention.
“How can an organisation claim to have spent $5 billion on healthcare, power and agriculture with no tangible infrastructure or benefit to show for it?.”
On Thursday, Dr Kelechi Ugonna (PhD) @Ugo_KelechiPhD wrote, “All around Nigeria, children, men and women are having to scavenge for rotten “food” in waste bins in 2025. Actually, this has been the case for a few years. Yet in 2023 USAID “spent” $824million in Nigeria alone. I join @DavidHundeyin & ask: where’s the money gone?”
Another netizen identified as Obiaraeri Nnaemeka Onyeka, also posted on Friday, “How I wish @elonmusk and DOGE will release the names of the recipients of the USAID $7.8bn inflow to Nigeria between 2014- 2023 and the amount each of them received. We need to know the NGO/ agency establishment bandits, who used USAIDs to shore up their sagging personal economies.”
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