The President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government has been forewarned against invading the Niger Republic in an effort to reinstall ousted President Mohamed Bazoum.
Gistlover recalls that on July 25, the Presidential Guard, led by General Abdourahamane Tchiani, detained Bazoum and assumed control of the situation.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) threatened military intervention and imposed sanctions on the Niger Republic after the coup.
The proposed military invasion of the West African nation and other sanctions against the coup plotters in the Niger Republic were discussed by Tinubu in a letter to the Senate on Friday. Tinubu also briefed the National Assembly on the proposed military invasion.
The co-National Spokesperson of CUPP, Mark Adebayo, however, claimed in a statement on Friday that the proposed military intervention is absolutely unnecessary.
The Nigerian military has reportedly been overworked over the years fighting terrorism and insurgency, depleting the nation’s resources, according to the CUPP.
This is why the group opposes the proposed military action.
Especially in light of the coup’s resounding popularity among Nigerians in general, it was claimed that Nigeria cannot afford or win the proposed military intervention.
He said, “It has come to our notice the preparations by Nigeria and some other West African countries for a military intervention in Niger Republic ostensibly to reinstate the overthrown civilian government in the country. First, Nigeria, in its current socioeconomic state, cannot afford such a costly intervention. The Nigerian military has been overstretched over the years battling terrorism and all manners of insurgency that are still very active and draining the country’s resources to the tune of billions of Naira weekly.
“It is not only unnecessary but absolutely thoughtless for Nigeria to contemplate intervening militarily in the internal affairs of another country when the security situation in our own country remains a serious challenge to our military and other security agencies with an economy that is currently sick.
“It is neither a war that Nigeria can afford nor win, especially in the face of the overwhelming popularity of the coup among the generality of Nigeriens. Any military intervention without the support of the people of Niger is dead on arrival, and it is glaring that the coup that toppled President Mohammed Bazoum was a widely popular one.
“Therefore, Nigeria cannot afford to waste its dwindling resources and the precious lives of our soldiers fighting an unnecessary war that it can ill afford. The sick cannot treat the sick. Nigeria should rather concentrate on healing itself instead of looking for trouble in another country
“We support any diplomatic efforts by the West African subregion to resolve the Nigerien impasse. But military intervention is taking the matter too far, and we daresay it would fail catastrophically. Whatever resources are being put together to fight in another man’s country should be put to better use for Nigeria and alleviate the suffering of the people under this unfriendly economy rather than be frittered away in a war that doesn’t really concern us when we have our own wars internally that we haven’t overcome.
“President Bola Tinubu should avoid plunging Nigeria’s fragile economy into more depression by intervening militarily in another country. Even if diplomatic channels have been exhausted, Nigeriens should be allowed to run their country as they deem fit, even though we support the survival of democracy based on good governance in Africa.
