Nigeria’s government has denied any plans or ongoing discussions with any foreign country to establish foreign military bases in Nigeria.
Minister for Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, made the denial on Monday in a statement he issued, urging Nigerians to disregard the “false alarm.”
The ministers statement categorically stated,
We have neither received nor are we considering any proposals from any country on the establishment of any foreign military bases in Nigeria.
Over the weekend, some eminent leaders mostly from the north, and civil society organizations, cautioned President Bola Tinubu against allowing the United States or France to relocate their military bases from the Sahel to Nigeria.
In an open letter addressed to the presidency and the National Assembly, the leaders urged the government not to succumb to such pressure.
Some of the signatories to the letter included Prof Siddique Mohammed of the Centre for Democratic Development, Research and Training (CEDDERT), Zaria, and Prof Attahiru Jega, former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), among others.
According to their letter, the American and French governments have been aggressively lobbying Nigeria, and other Gulf of Guinea countries, to sign new defense pacts. They claimed the defense pacts would allow those countries to redeploy their troops expelled from Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger to Nigeria.
The letter said although Nigeria’s strategic importance in the Gulf of Guinea to them was understandable, such a pact could be harmful to Nigeria’s internal security in the long run.
However, by this ministerial denial, it is hoped that the concerns are now assuaged, and the matter put to rest.
Please comment and share this article, & follow us on our social media handles.
WhatsApp Channel
Telegram Channel
