Niger Junta: NLC counsels ECOWAS on use of military force
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has counselled the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on using military force to remove the military junta in Niger Republic.
The NLC president, Joe Ajaero, in a statement on Sunday in Abuja, said the disadvantages outweigh the benefits, from putting in danger the lives of deposed President Mohammed Bazoum and his family to the destabilisation of the entire region.
He said this includes Northern Nigeria and the loss of many lives in and out of the battlefield.
ECOWAS heads of government, at the end of the second extraordinary summit on August 10, issued a terse statement to deploy military might to restore democracy in Niger.
The statement directed the Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff to activate the ECOWAS standby force with all its elements immediately to restore constitutional order in the Republic of Niger.
According to Mr Ajaero, this is an immediate war on the Niger Republic, Nigeria’s most peaceful neighbour.
“Despite our unimpeachable credentials in the popular struggle against military rule, we would strongly counsel against the use of military force to remove the military junta in Niger Republic,” he said.
Mr Ajaero said equally of significance is the unintended possibility of turning Niger into a fertile territory for proxy wars.
“Even after the war is over, the region must brace itself for raised acts of terrorism or insurgency.
“This is just as it might signal the end of ECOWAS as we know it today given the scenario of 10 members fighting five,” he said.
The NLC president also said suspicions were rife that the ECOWAS leadership was trying to pull out of the fire the nut for and on behalf of another or others.
He added that while one cannot ascertain the veracity of the claims, ECOWAS must conduct itself so that its citizens and the world would believe it has a mind of its own.
“Coupled with this, we at the congress have reason to believe that ECOWAS in part is a victim of its double standards or discriminatory policies,” he said.
He noted that one of the consequences of weaponising the electricity supply to the Niger Republic was the right of proportionate responsorial action.
(NAN)
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