By Ibrahim Hassan-Wuyo

The Advocacy for Peace and Socio-economic Empowerment of Women and Youth, a CSO, has warned that any military intervention against Niger Republic will directly affect Northern Nigeria by worsening and further destabilising the region which has been plagued by insecurity and infrastructural decay.

The CSO therefore advised that diplomacy and dialogue still remained the best options in resolving the impasse in Niger, as “an attack on Niger Republic is a direct attack on Northern Nigeria.”

Leader of the CSO, Fareeda Umar Bakori said at a press conference in Kaduna that use of forces on Niger may also lead to humanitarian crisis, as Nigeriens will migrate to northern states if the war intensifies, warning  that the region may become lawless, leading to military excesses and indiscriminate killings of innocent people.

The CSO therefore called on President Bola Tinubu , Chairman, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to stop considering use of military forces by ECOWAS against the Military junta in Niger Republic.

“Our main goal is to advocate for good governance and a better Nigeria by creating awareness. As we all know, military junta detained President Mohamed Bazoum of Niger on Wednesday, July 26th, 2023 and toppled the democratically elected government in the country.”

“It was because of this coup, the West African nations under ECOWAS, have finalised a plan to intervene militarily in Niger to reverse the already executed coup.”

“ECOWAS decision to retain the option of military intervention in Niger, facing the way for the mobilization of a force, a force which will mainly be composed of Nigerian and Senegalese troops. We think Nigeria is facing serious economic difficulties and its military is already over- stretched due to them being involved in internal security operations, which should be carried out by domestic security agencies such as the police.”

“So we urge our President who doubled as the Chairman of ECOWAS ,President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to not rush into an avoidable conflict as that will only raise the prospect of a major regional conflict and  serious domestic implications.”

“However, our Organisation wishes to unequivocally state that, we regard the people of Niger not only as our neighbors but as our brothers and sisters, Any military intervention against Niger will unavoidably and directly affect Northern Nigeria by worsening and further destabilising the region which has been plagued by insecurity and infrastructural decay.”

“It may also lead to

a humanitarian crisis, as Nigeriens will migrate to northern states if the war intensifies. The region may become lawless leading to military excesses, and indiscriminate killings.”

“Another major threat to our security is the perception of the two neighboring countries of Niger that are being governed by the military, that is Mali and Burkina Faso. They feel that any military intervention in Niger is a declaration of war on them so when Niger is attacked, it is going to trigger a regional warfare that no one knows how it will end.”

“We should also keep in mind that Russia is exploiting this opportunity as well, to extend its global dominance to Africa. So it’s a whole lot more than just a war with Niger Republic but a war with many interested parties seeking to advance their own dominance.”

“We should not as a country be led into a war like Saudi Arabia, which is now trapped in Yemen.Consequently, we call on President Tinubu as a leader of ECOWAS, to extend time for dialogue with the coup leaders. We pray for diplomatic negotiations in resolving this without the use of force.”

“Any harsh and hostile sanctions against Niger should be reversed. For example Nigeria’s decision to cut electricity supply to Niger violates the treaty that enabled Nigeria to build a dam on the river Niger.”

“The government of Nigeria should rather than venturing into this war channel the same resources to other critical areas of national development such as power, agriculture, education, security and so on. We believe peace is always better than war!”.

“On this note, we would like to remind the general public that any military intervention or war with the Republic of Niger is unthinkable, considering the historical, cultural, religious, political, economic and kinship ties between Niger Republic and our dear country Nigeria. In addition, both countries have mutually supported each other on critical issues of national security.”

“Niger in many occasions protected Nigeria from security sabotage and terrorism. Niger Republic has accommodated Nigerian refugees from the North-East and North-West geopolitical zones. Both Nigeria and Niger based diplomatic relations upon non-interference in the internal affairs of the other. As we all know, part of our foreign policy is the principles of non-interference and non-alignment,” the CSO said.