Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, has joined prominent Nigerians and groups opposed to a military invasion of the Niger Republic following the military coup that deposed President Mohammed Bazoum.
The apex northern body’s warning comes on the back of a request by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the Nigerian Senate to approve the use of force to reinstate Bazoum.
ACF also made its position known after Defence Headquarters, DHQ, on Thursday denied reports that it has received orders from the Presidency to prepare to force out the coupists.
The Economic Community of West Africa, ECOWAS earlier in the week, in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital passed a resolution for the use of force if the soldiers failed to hand over power in seven days.
Tinubu is the Chairman of the 15-nation economic block.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio read the president’s letter on the floor of the Senate on today.
A renowned diplomat Prof. Bola Akinterinwa, Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, are among prominent Nigerians who have kicked against the use of force to flush out the coupists led by Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani who took over power last week, saying such could lead to a full-blown war with Nigeria at the losing end.
Tension has been further heightened in the region after Burkina Faso, Mali and Guinea military juntas warned that they will fight on the side of Niger coupists in the case of military invasion by ECOWAS.
The regional bloc has imposed economic sanctions on the junta which includes, land, sea, and air blockades apart from freezing the assets belonging to the coup leaders.
ACF in a statement on Friday, said military intervention in the restive West African nation will have grave consequences for the country, citing the fact that Niger is Nigeria’s close neighbour.
The warning is contained in a statement issued by its General Secretary, Murtala Aliyu, who called on all the parties involved to dialogue to promote peace and stability in other for democratic rule to be sustained in the subregion.
The statement reads in part: “ACF, however, views with concern the unfolding events in Nigeria’s immediate neighbour, the Republic of Niger, and the potential impact on the region.
“The measures being contemplated should have taken into consideration the historical antecedents and mutual interests of the two countries and weighed the consequences of the use of military force.
“While the ACF recognises the ECOWAS position to bring pressure to bear on the perpetrators, nevertheless the military option shouldn’t be a prerequisite for Nigeria’s and the Community’s continuing efforts to enthrone democracy in the region in the 21st century.
“To this end, ACF notes that while it supports the position to restore democratic rule in Niger, it calls on the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government under the able Chairmanship of President Bola Tinubu, that it should toe the path of dialogue and diplomacy and certainly not force, in resolving the current impasse in Niger in the interest of peaceful coexistence with our brotherly neighbour and stability of the ECOWAS region.”
Meanwhile, an ECOWAS mediation team led by Gen Abdusalam Abubakar (rtd.), Nigeria’s former military head of state, has met with the country’s military junta, as tension of an imminent war mounts.
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