Nigeria has denied accusations from Niger’s navy chief, Brig Gen Abdourahmane Tchiani, of colluding with France to destabilise the junta-led nation.
In a Christmas Day interview, Gen Tchiani accused France of allying with militant teams within the Lake Chad area to undermine Niger’s safety, allegedly with Nigeria’s data.
“Nigerian authorities usually are not unaware of this underhanded transfer,” Gen Tchiani was quoted as saying by AFP.
In response, Nigeria’s Nationwide Safety Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, instructed BBC Hausa that the allegations have been “baseless” and “false”.
Mr Ribadu stated Nigeria would by no means “sabotage Niger or permit any catastrophe to befall it”.
Nigeria’s Data Minister, Mohammed Idris, stated the allegations have been unfounded and a “diversionary tactic geared toward protecting his administration’s failures”.
“These claims exist solely within the realm of creativeness. Nigeria has by no means engaged in any alliance, overt or covert, with France — or another nation — to destabilise Niger Republic,” Idris stated.
Idris additionally denied sabotaging Niger’s pipeline and agriculture, which it was accused of.
Gen Tchiani’s allegations have worsened diplomatic tensions with Nigeria, already strained because the 2023 navy coup that ousted ex-president Mohamed Bazoum.
West Africa’s regional bloc, Ecowas, led by Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu, imposed financial sanctions on Niger and threatened navy intervention if constitutional order was not restored.
Ecowas got here to Nigeria’s defence in an announcement on Thursday refuting the claims.
“For years, Nigeria has supported peace and safety of a number of nations not solely within the West African subregion but in addition on the African continent,” the regional bloc stated in an announcement shared on Thursday.
“Ecowas due to this fact refutes any suggestion that such a beneficiant and magnanimous nation would grow to be a state sponsor of terrorism,” it learn.
Two weeks in the past, Ecowas authorised the withdrawal of three military-led nations, together with Niger, after they refused to revive democratic rule.
For the reason that coup, Niger has urged France and different Western powers to withdraw their navy bases and fashioned a safety alliance with junta-led neighbours Mali and Burkina Faso.
