President Bola Ahmed Tinubu says he is deploying back-channel strategies in Niger Republic to avoid bloodshed.
Tinubu, who is the Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, said this when he hosted the French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Friday.
The regional bloc had threatened to use force to displace the military junta and reinstate the democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum.
However, the junta shunned ECOWAS and aligned with neighbouring countries under military rule, stating that it was prepared to take on the body.
Speaking at the State House, Abuja, Tinubu said Nigeria is monitoring the situation in the neighbouring country, and exploring diplomatic channels.
“Leadership is about responding to the needs of the people; their cries, and their frustrations. Nigeria shares a border with Niger across the expanse of seven Nigerian states, and most of these states are very populated. Therefore, I need to guide ECOWAS carefully and steadily so that we manage our anger carefully.”
”We have a colleague and a democratically-elected leader, President Bazoum, being used as a human shield. If we are not careful, he and his family can be endangered.
”I am deploying all appropriate back-channel strategies to avoid bloodshed in Niger Republic. We recognize the wishes of our people; they do not want war, but that does not mean we cannot take bold and decisive action,” the president said.
Tinubu added that Nigeria will continue to galvanize international partners in the determined pursuit of a peaceful resolution to the situation in Niger Republic.
He expressed the readiness of France to expand mutually beneficial collaboration with Nigeria across multiple sectors.
Coloma, who conveyed the goodwill of President Emmanuel Macron, proceeded to extend a formal invitation to attend the forthcoming Paris Peace Forum.
Ms. Colonna also commended President Tinubu’s leadership in ECOWAS, saying: “We support your efforts at ECOWAS. We are behind you because we believe that constitutional order is a treasure for all countries, and democracy must be a reality.”
