Ex-Governor Nasir El-Rufai has issued a warning to President Bola Tinubu via Naija247news, asserting that any potential ECOWAS troops’ military intervention in Niger would be tantamount to declaring a civil war against northern Nigeria.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!El-Rufai, who had maintained public silence regarding recent events in Niger and ECOWAS’s responses, conveyed his caution through a tweet on Tuesday morning:
I recall the 1970s rock classic by Dire Straits – ‘Brothers in Arms’, because a war within our subregion is a war between brothers. Indeed, the people of Niger Republic are one and the same with those living in Northern Nigeria.…”
— Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai (@elrufai) August 22, 2023
Elaborating on the sentiment, he emphasized that a conflict within the subregion would constitute a war among brethren. El-Rufai acknowledged the shared kinship between the people of Niger Republic and those in Northern Nigeria, urging for efforts to prevent such a civil war between close counterparts.
El-Rufai’s statement follows his recent rift with Tinubu over ministerial appointments. It also comes after ECOWAS directed its troops to remain on standby for a possible intervention to reinstate constitutional order in Niger, following President Mohamed Bazoum’s removal by his presidential guards in July. During the second extraordinary summit on the socio-political situation in Niger, ECOWAS President Omar Alieu Touray instructed the activation of the ECOWAS standby force. Tinubu, as ECOWAS chair, emphasized the gravity of the ongoing political crisis in Niger and its potential impact on regional stability.
