A legal practitioner and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Jibrin Samuel Okutepa, has advised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to shelve his plans of sending Nigerian troops for peacekeeping in the Niger Republic.
Okutepa who gave this advice while reacting to Tinubu’s request before the Senate on Friday, asking for the lawmaker’s approval of sending Nigerian troops to the country, expressed hope that the Senate would not approve such a request of sending the Nigerian military to fight such a “senseless war.”
Tinubu had on Friday sent a letter to the Nigerian Senate, seeking approval for military action and other sanctions against the military leaders who have seized power in Niger Republic, disposing the elected President of the country, Mohamed Bazoum.
Bazoum and the members of his family had been put under house arrest at the Presidential lodge in the country, since last week Wednesday, and the military leader, General Abdouramane Tchiani had declared himself as the new President of the country, against the warnings and 7 days ultimatum given by the Economic Community of West African States, headed by President Tinubu, which has instructed Tchiani to reinstalled President Bazoum into power.
However, Tinubu’s military intervention request letter was read by the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, on the floor of the Upper Chamber on Friday.
Reacting to the development in a series of tweets via his Twitter handle on Saturday morning, Okutepa expressed hope the National Assembly would not approve Tinubu’s request to send the Nigerian military to Niger to fight a ‘senseless war’ of restoring democratic government in the country.
“I just hope the National Assembly will not approve the request to send our military to the Niger Republic to fight a senseless war of restoring democratic government in that country.
“Nigerians need our security agencies including armed forces to restore peace and security in Nigeria.”
The Niger military government had also disconnected diplomatic ties with Nigeria, Togo, France and the USA, after the ECOWAS envoy sent to the country to broker peace failed to achieve a result, as well as too much pressure all over the world, calling for the restoration of democratic rule in the country.
The military government in Niger had recalled the country’s envoys to Nigeria, Togo, USA and France, where the envoy pledged allegiance to the deposed President Bazoum.
