The junta in the Niger Republic has been asked to put an immediate stop to the burning of the Nigerian flag throughout the nation by the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), a group made up of various organizations in Northern Nigeria.
According to the Nation paper, they also cautioned that it is inappropriate for some Nigerians to use methods to denigrate the country’s president and other leaders, which are not only immoral and illegal but also repugnant to the nation’s common sensitivities and basic civility.
Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, the spokesman for the CNG, said in a press release made in Abuja that if the junta does not take action right away, Niger risks losing the popular support that the vast majority of Nigerians have shown the country.
However, it also urged the Federal Government to reevaluate its stance over the closing of the Niger border and the seizing of the nation’s electrical supply, arguing that the military governments in Niger and ECOWAS should be open to dialogue.
The CNG stated: “For one, the quick shutdown of borders and shipping routes by neighboring countries, the decision to turn off electricity supply by Nigeria, and the imposition of a regime of economic sanctions were not in the best interest of peace.”
It then cited alleged rigid positions taken by both ECOWAS and the military leaders in Niger. The coup leaders in Niger, on the other hand, have obstinately blocked every door to dialogue by rejecting all offers, even the denial of permission for diplomatic envoys from the UN, the African Union, and ECOWAS to begin a dialogue.
“CNG observes also that the military junta in Niger has supported or ignored the violent manner in which their citizens have taken part in the public insult to the common feelings of Nigerians and Nigeria as a whole by trashing the Nigerian national flag.”
We also observe the provocation to war by the authorities in Mali and Burkina Faso, plus the direct and indirect inflammatory nature of the scenario by certain foreign interests on the West and East that only add to problems.
Temmyabbe (
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