A presidential aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 general elections, Adamu Garba, has cautioned President Bola Tinubu to resist pressures from the United States (U.S.) and France to lead ECOWAS into military action in Niger Republic in the aftermath of the coup that ousted President Mohamed Bazoum.
Garba insisted that ECOWAS leaders must engage in peaceful negotiation and arbitration in the Niger leadership crisis.
According to Adamu Garba. “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 non-kinetic, diplomatic approach.”
Garba was of the view that any military action in Niger will trigger internal crisis in the country and threaten the growth of democracy.
He maintained that the West, under France and the U.S., have perfectly set a trap for ECOWAS to go into a total war in the region; noting that any mistake of military intervention in Niger means we are done with.
Garba asserted that any military coup that lasted beyond 24 hours becomes successful. “At that point, the military would have secured the approvals of all the stakeholders of that country. Trying any military means of restoring order means a total war against our neighbors, particularly, when the people are happily jubilant, Adamu Garba declared.
he warned of the refugee crisis that may follow any war in the West African sub region.
Garba in a statement declared:
Adamu Garba II
@adamugarba
“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.
“Any military coup that lasted beyond 24 hours becomes successful. At that point, the military would have secured the approvals of all the stakeholders of that country. Trying any military means of restoring order means a total war against our neighbors, particularly when the people are happily jubilant.
“In essence, it means we will be shooting missiles against each other across our borders. A total catastrophe against our countries and peoples.
“Imagine the influx of refugees from Niger Republic into Nigeria, with our current dearth situation in Nigeria. This should never be imagined.
“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 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.”