Immediate-past Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, has added his voice to the calls against military action in Niger Republic as being contemplated by ECOWAS.
A group of Nigerien military officers mainly from the Presidential Guards had seized power from the elected President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26, a development opposed to by ECOWAS, which has also called for restoration of democratic order in the country.
El-Rufai, who took to his verified Twitter handle on Tuesday, said using force to resolve the crisis has potential consequences of a conflict between the Niger and Northern Nigeria, whom he described as brothers.
He wrote: “As ECOWAS beats the drums of war, 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. Let us bend therefore over backwards to avoid this civil war between brothers.”
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