“If we make a mistake of involving military means in Niger, we may end up inviting more internal problems to ourselves” – Adamu Garba

Adamu Garba, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has made allegations regarding the United States and France setting a trap for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to engage in total war in the region. He expressed concern that any military intervention in Niger could have dire consequences for Nigeria.

His statements came after General Abdourahamane Tchiani, the alleged mastermind of a coup in Niger Republic, was given a seven-day ultimatum to return power to Mohammed Bazoom. This resolution was reached during an emergency meeting of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government held in Abuja on Sunday.

In a tweet from his verified Twitter handle, Garba urged President Bola Tinubu to remain courageous and resist pressure from France and the U.S. to initiate military action against Niger. Instead, he advocated for a non-kinetic and diplomatic approach to the situation

He wrote, “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.”