Kerry to Visit Nigeria, Saudi Arabia

Esha Sarai

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to Nigeria and Saudi Arabia next week to discuss regional issues, the State Department announced Thursday.

Kerry will first go to Nigeria and meet with President Muhammadu Buhari to discuss the threat of terror group Boko Haram, spokesman John Kirby said.

Boko Haram, the group responsible for the kidnapping of nearly 300 girls from a school in Chibok in 2014, has killed at least 20,000 people in its 7-year uprising against the Nigerian government. It surpassed Islamic State in 2014 to become the world’s deadliest terrorist group, according to the 2015 Global Terrorism Index, published by the Institute for Economics and Peace.

Kerry and Buhari also will discuss Nigeria’s economy and human rights issues.

Secretary Kerry then will travel on to Saudi Arabia where he will meet with Saudi and other Gulf state leaders to discuss the ongoing conflict in Yemen, Kirby said^.

VOA’s Steve Herman contributed to this report.