Reactions As Sen. Sani Opposes ECOWAS Military Intervention In the Niger Republic, Gives Reasons

Senator Shehu has expressed his opposition to any plan by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for a military intervention in the Niger Republic to depose the military junta that took over power in that country headed by General Abdourahamane Tchiani and restore democratic rule.

His statement came against the backdrop of the 8-day ultimatum which ECOWAS issued to the military junta to reinstate the deposed civilian president, Mohamed Bazoum, or be forced out.

In a post his Twitter handle, the former lawmaker highlighted 13 reasons why Nigerians must not support any such move. 

A synopsis of his reasons for opposing the military intervention option is that it will akin to a war between that country and Nigeria because of the proximity of both countries to each other. 

That, he further highlighted, will have dire repercussions on Nigeria.

The Senator argued that apart from the financial burden of prosecuting the war that the country would bear against the Niger Republic that would most likely get support from Russia and Wagner May, the nation’s border states of Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina, Jigawa, and Yobe will be in so much danger in the event of a war. 

He questioned why the American and French military bases located inside Niger did not make any move to quell the insurrection only for those countries to now encourage Nigeria to go to war. 

He also pointed out that the Niger Republic country currently hosts over 303 thousand Nigerian refugees displaced by terrorist attacks in the northern states, noting that these people’s lives will be grossly endangered in a war. 

The Senator, therefore, urged President Tinubu not to be goaded into triggering a war with Niger only to be abandoned in the middle of it, noting none of the other West African countries could muster the resources to prosecute a war and so would be relying on Nigeria to do it.

According to him, Nigeria should not be crying more than the bereaved, stressing that if the citizens of the Niger Republic don’t want a military rule, they should fight against it themselves. 

He reminded Nigerians that there is a war at home against terrorism, urging the government to concentrate here.

The Kaduna-born politician concluded that the President should continue to explore the option of dialogue with the military junta in the Niger Republic to resolve the issues instead of opting for military intervention. 

However, his submissions divided opinions among netizens who interacted with the tweet, with some agreeing with him while others disagreed. 

Read some selected reactions here:

Where do you stand on the issue?

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