From Sola Ojo, Abuja
Two prominent Northern groups, the Arewa Youths Coalition for Peace and Political Development and the Northern Elders Progressive Group, on Thursday, condemned terrorism allegations levelled against the Nigerian government by General Abdourahamane Tchiani, Military Head of Niger Republic.
The military leader, who spoke in the Hausa language in a viral video recently, accused the Nigerian government of fostering an unholy alliance with France to establish a terrorist base in northern Nigeria, a development that has unsettled many Nigerians.
Reading a communiqué issued after their joint 8th meeting at a hotel in Kaduna on Thursday, the groups strongly rejected Niger Republic President’s allegation against Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, calling it “irresponsible, lacking decorum and unpresidential”.
They, therefore, called on the President of Niger Republic to tender an immediate apology to Nigeria and stop creating tension between the two countries, which share a long history of harmonious brotherhood.
The groups also criticised some clerics for abandoning their moral character and exemplary wisdom, instead becoming entertainers who spread misinformation and create unnecessary tension.
The communiqué read in part:
“The leadership of the Northern groups above commended the efforts of the Federal Government under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu towards sustaining the fight against insecurity challenges bedevilling some parts of the northern region.
“To us, it is time for our political leaders, elites, and those in authority who are of northern extraction to come together and bring lasting solutions to the numerous challenges facing the region.
“Unarguably, the development has retarded our collective progress, unity, cohesion, and development; because unity, peace, and development of our dear North must be non-negotiable and sacrosanct to ensure cohesion and political understanding amongst all Nigerians.
“There must be a way to bring all our political leaders together, united and committed to development in the best possible way. Together, we should set aside political, religious, and ethnic differences in matters affecting our region and country.
“It is very painful that some of our clerics have discarded the moral character of teaching and abandoned the exemplary wisdom of preaching the truth by becoming more like entertainers in discussing matters affecting political unity, security, and the survival of the country without recourse to reality.
“We want to appeal to our revered clerics to stop creating unnecessary tension as a result of their unguarded utterances. They should rather allow professionals to speak on issues they know little or nothing about, just because they have the platform.
“We have keenly observed that the majority of them are becoming tools of propaganda and mischief, using vulgar language in their Sunday and Friday sermons.
“We also reject, in totality, the recent allegations made by General Abdourahamane Tchiani, Military Head of Niger Republic, against Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of conniving with France to destabilise his country.
“We see such unguarded utterances as irresponsible, lacking decorum, and unpresidential. These are baseless allegations capable of overheating the polity in our country.
“Our stance on this saga is total support and endorsement of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, especially with his positive approach to political unity, security, and the restoration of peace in our troubled zone, i.e. the North.
“We call on the President of the Niger Republic to tender an immediate apology to Nigeria and stop creating tension and disunity between the two brotherly nations that have a common historical understanding, unity, and regard for each other spanning decades.”
The groups urged Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the National Security Adviser to President Tinubu, to bring an end to bandit kingpin Bello Turji’s reign of terror in Sokoto, Zamfara, and Katsina states.
The communiqué was jointly signed by Hon Yusuf Abubakar, Alhaji Yasir Ramadan Kano, and Engr Mustafa Aliyu Dutsin-Ma, representing the Arewa Youths Coalition for Peace and Political Development, and the Northern Elders Progressive Group.