Article from the "Stars and Stripes" about BH and US response. Seems to be some confusion as to what to do. John Campbell (who is widely reviled in Nigeria's South and seen as a lackey of powerful Northern politicians), naturally opposes US involvement. The others are not quite sure.

STUTTGART, Germany — A series of high-profile attacks in Nigeria in recent weeks that claimed scores of lives appear to be focused on fueling instability and mistrust between the country’s Christian and Muslim communities, and there is growing concern that the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram could be extending its reach and establishing links with other terrorist groups.

According to Human Rights Watch, more than 253 people were killed in the first three weeks of 2012, including 185 killed in a series of attacks in the northern city of Kano, the nation’s second largest.

“Many of the attacks in the past month have specifically targeted Christians and southern Nigerians living in the north,” Human Rights Watch said.

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But there is growing concern that Boko Haram could be seeking ties with other terrorist groups, making it a potential threat beyond the borders of Nigeria.

A recent United Nations report on development in West Africa warned of “growing concern in the region about possible linkages between Boko Haram and al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb,” an al-Qaida affiliated group in north Africa.

The U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee on homeland security also recommended in its own report that the U.S. increase its support for Nigerian counterterrorism efforts.

“It is critical that the U.S. work more closely with Nigerian security forces to develop greater domestic intelligence collection and sharing with the U.S. Intelligence Community,” stated the House report, titled “Boko Haram: Emerging Threat to the U.S. Homeland.” “Military cooperation is vital to a successful counterterrorism strategy.”

However, experts on the region caution that closer alignment of the U.S. with Nigerian security forces — which experts say are in need of major reform and are known for brutality against civilians in the Muslim-dominated north — could shift the focus of a locally oriented extremist group into a jihadist movement that sees the U.S. as its enemy. It also could generate more popular support for Boko Haram among much of Nigeria’s Muslim population, experts caution.

“In so far as the U.S. becomes identified with those security services, you are turning popular sentiment in an anti-American direction,” said John Campbell, a Nigeria expert at the Council on Foreign Relations. “[Boko Haram] rhetoric is very far away from al-Qaida rhetoric. While it’s quite a big threat to security in Nigeria, it’s not to the United States.”
http://www.stripes.com/news/us-weigh...geria-1.167077

I think this argument is quite academic. There is a government in Abuja, and specific demands are likely to be made by that government - these demands will depend on how that government perceives the evolving threats. The USG will either accept or reject these demands.

It is unlikely that the Nigerian Army will change its modus operandi and the Nigerian Army does not meekly accept all the orders sent to it by its civilian overlords (not quite the Pakistan Military but not US mil-civilian relationship either). It might seek the services of other military services that play the brutal crackdown game.