Nasir El-Rufai, a former governor of Kaduna State, has warned the Economic Community of West African States from intervening militarily in the Niger Republic.
After President Mohamed Bazoum was overthrown and imprisoned by generals in Niger, the ECOWAS defense chiefs on Thursday expressed their willingness to take part in a standby force that would restore democracy to the country.
In a statement via X, formerly known as Twitter, El-Rufai said, “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.”