Post falsely claims US embargoed weapons deal with Nigeria over anti-gay law

“If you google, you will see a story of how a US President placed an arms embargo on Nigeria fighting ISIS then Boko Haram because the African nation passed a homophobic bill (sic),” reads an X post shared more than 800 times since February 15, 2025.

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Screenshot of the false X post, taken on February 24, 2025

Boko Haram and other extremist groups have waged a 15-year insurgency in northeastern Nigeria that has killed more than 40,000 people and displaced millions (archived here).

“I get it; minority rights are essential, but Boko Haram?” adds the post written by Kalu Aja, an X user who shares economy-related content with more than 300,000 followers.

Aja links to a 2015 article quoting a former US congressman as saying the Barack Obama administration “refused to help Nigeria with Boko Haram” because of the anti-gay stance of the Nigerian government (archived here).

A year earlier, the Nigerian government criminalised public displays of affection between same-sex couples and restricted the work of civil society organisations that defend the rights of gay people (archived here).

However, this was not the reason the United States cited for blocking the sale of weapons to Nigeria a decade ago.

Leahy Law

Over the years, the Nigerian army has been accused of various human rights violations (archived here).

Thousands have also been killed in accidental airstrikes by the Nigerian Air Force (archived here).

In 2014, the US government under Obama blocked Israel’s sale of US-made helicopters to Nigeria to fight Boko Haram terrorists, invoking the Leahy Law that prohibits the United States from assisting foreign security forces that violate human rights (archived here and here).

James Entwistle, the US ambassador to Nigeria at the time, said the proscription did not amount to an arms embargo (archived here).

In defence of the law, Patrick Leahy, a former US senator whom it is named after, said the Nigerian government should be serious about eliminating human rights abuses (archived here).

This elicited complaints from Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria’s president at the time, and from Muhammadu Buhari, his successor (archived here and here).

Buhari criticised the application of the Leahy Law and said the allegations of military abuses were unproven (archived here).

But neither of the former leaders accused the US of withholding military aid because of Nigeria's Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act (SSMPA).

Deal approved

In 2018, during his first term, US President Donald Trump approved the sale of helicopters and fighter jets to Nigeria, pledging stronger support for the fight against terrorism (archived here).

Three years later, however, further sales of military equipment to Nigeria were put on hold, again over concerns of human rights violations by the army (archived here). 

In the end, this deal was also approved in April 2022 (archived here).

In February 2024, Christopher Musa, Nigeria’s chief of defence staff, said the military had been unable to purchase weapons because of lingering human rights concerns (archived here).

Four months later, the Nigerian Air Force announced plans to acquire 50 military aircraft but there were no details on the cost or source of the equipment (archived here).

AFP Fact Check has debunked several claims about US-Nigeria ties, including one that Trump’s deportation order does not affect Nigerians.