Group Warns FG Over US, France Military Pact
The Federal Government has been warned against entering into a military agreement with the United States and France that would facilitate the transfer of their military bases to Nigeria.
The warning was given at the weekend by activists from the northern region and members of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).
The leaders from the north have written to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the National Assembly (NASS) regarding their concerns about the relocation of the military from the Sahel to Nigeria. They also shared reasons why they think the federal government should not allow this relocation.
According to the group, the American and French governments had been desperately lobbying the governments of Nigeria, Benin, Togo, and Ghana to agree to sign new defense pacts that would enable them to redeploy their soldiers expelled from Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger.
“Some of the troops have been redeployed to Chad but France and United States prefer countries of the Gulf of Guinea that are more strategically located to serve their interests in the central zone of the Sahel.
“Of the countries in the Gulf of Guinea, Nigeria turns out to be the most strategically located. There are indications that the Nigerian government may be favourably disposed to the proposed defense pact.
“However, there is widespread apprehension that signing of the pact by Nigeria would have wide ranging implications for defense and internal security of the country,” they warned.
On December 22, 2023, the leaders reported that the final group of 1,500 French troops stationed in Niamey, Niger, as well as in two additional bases situated in Niger’s tri-frontier region, were officially withdrawn from the country.
Speaking further, they said: “On March 16, 2024, Niger Republic suspended the military agreement with the United States signed in 2012, which allowed the US to station about 1100 US troops and civilian personnel permanently in Niger, to operate from two American bases in the country.
“American Airbase 101 is located in Niamey, while Airbase 201 is located near the small northern city of Agadez, about 920 kilometers southwest of Niamey.
“These French and American bases were used by the French and the Americans to carry out manned and unmanned surveillance flights and other operations in the Sahel. The bases had become the focal points for Western intelligence and surveillance operations in West Africa.
”The American and French troops were expelled because their presence did not serve any useful purpose. Instead, they were using the defense pact to carry out surveillance operations in the region to serve their geopolitical strategic interests.”
