Senator wants review of U.S. security assistance to Nigeria following abortion report

FILE PHOTO: Senator Jim Risch (R-ID) ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, attends a hearing on the Fiscal Year 2023 Budget at the Capitol in Washington, U.S., April 26, 2022. Bonnie Cash/Pool via REUTERS

NAIROBI/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Senator Jim Risch, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has requested a review of U.S. security assistance and cooperation programs in Nigeria following Reuters reporting on an illegal abortion program and killing of children carried out by the Nigerian military.

Risch, in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken seen by Reuters, also called for the State Department to examine the potential use of sanctions in addition to an expeditious review of U.S. security assistance and cooperation.