Adamu Garba, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Party’s presidential aspirant, has claimed that any mistake in the military intervention of the Niger coup might be doom for West Africa, Nigeria inclusive.
His submission stems from the the seven-day ultimatum given General Abdourahamane Tchiani, the mastermind of the coup in the Niger Republic, to return power to Mohammed Bazoum, the country’s democratic president. .
Information Nigeria reports that the ultimatum was part of the resolutions reached at the emergency meeting of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Authority of Heads of State and Government, which was held in Abuja, Sunday.
In reaction to the development, Garba, in a post via Twitter, alleged that the United States (U.S.) and France had set a trap for the ECOWAS to go into a total war in the region.
He urged President Bola Tinubu to be courageous enough to resist pressure from France and U.S. for the ECOWAS to wage any military action against Niger.
According to him, involving the military may lead to more internal problems for Nigeria and the hard efforts made in building a democratic government.
The APC chieftain called on Tinubu to opt for a non-kinetic and diplomatic approach.
Garba tweeted, “The West, under France and the U.S have perfectly set a TRAP for ECOWAS to go into a total war in the region. Any mistake of military intervention in Niger means we are done with.
“President Tinubu must be courageous enough to resist French and U.S pressure on ECOWAS to wage any military action against Niger. We must use a non-kinetic, diplomatic approach.
“If we make a mistake of involving military means in Niger, we may end up inviting more internal problems to ourselves and to the effort we made so hard in building a democratic government in place.
“The truth of the matter is, West Africa has failed to protect democracy. Our only option now is to learn from the failures and prevent repeating it, not to completely destroy our region in the interest of Western Powers, against our security interests.”
READ ALSO: ECOWAS Gives Niger Coup Plotters 7-Day Ultimatum To Return President Bazoum To Power
Meanwhile, the U.S. Government, Sunday, through Matthew Miller, spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, welcomed and commended ECOWAS for defending constitutional order in Niger and for actions that respect the will of the Nigerien people.
The President Joe Biden government also joined ECOWAS and regional leaders in calling for the immediate release of President Mohamed Bazoum and his family and the restoration of all state functions to the legitimate, democratically-elected government.
The statement reads: “The U.S. government welcomes and commends the strong leadership of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Heads of State and Government to defend constitutional order in Niger, actions that respect the will of the Nigerien people and align with enshrined ECOWAS and African Union principles of “zero tolerance for unconstitutional change.”
“We join ECOWAS and regional leaders in calling for the immediate release of President Mohamed Bazoum and his family and the restoration of all state functions to the legitimate, democratically-elected government.
“The United States further welcomes the dispatch of the special representative of the ECOWAS Chair to Niger and urges all parties to work with ECOWAS for a peaceful and expeditious resolution of the current situation.
“The United States will remain actively engaged with ECOWAS and West African leaders on the next steps to preserve Niger’s hard-earned democracy.”
