Former spokesperson of the Northern Elders Forum, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has faulted the U.S. bombing of terrorists in Sokoto, describing it as a humiliation of the Nigerian military assets sworn to protect and defend the country.
In an interview with Peoples Gazette on Friday, Mr Baba-Ahmed said the U.S military action on Nigerian soil undermines the country’s sovereignty and right to defend itself.
“Now our country’s right to defend itself has been handed over by our leadership to the U.S.,” said the politician. “Our military assets sworn to protect and defend us have been further diminished by the action of the US. They will be right if they feel humiliated.”
U.S. President Donald Trump, on Thursday, announced on his social media pages that the American military carried out a series of airstrikes against terrorist targets in the North-Western state. Hours after, the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement confirming the operation.
Mr Baba-Ahmed described the airstrikes as a gross violation of Nigeria’s sovereignty, accusing the U.S. government of pursuing a hidden agenda while dividing the country along religious lines.
“The real issue is not where, within the territory of Nigeria the US assault landed. What is important is that our sovereignty, dignity and rights have been violated by an external interest which claims it is acting in the interest of the Nigerian Christian community.
“The US has been consistent in trying to deepen our religious divisions. It has threatened to attack us instead of assisting us to deal with a problem which only Nigerians can,” he explained.
While noting that the U.S. could not win the war against terrorism in the country, the politician decried the Nigerian government’s failure to handle the situation, adding foreign intervention would only make the country vulnerable to colonialism.
“The U.S. does not have a foot in our door. It has the whole room. How do we say to the US, go home, we can handle our problems, henceforth?
“U.S. itself knows it cannot win this war against our killers. Only Nigerians will do this. And we must show greater resolve to do this, or we will continue to do the bidding of countries like the US. This will make us double victims: of killers all over the country, and powerful countries interested in a weakened Nigeria they can colonize,” Mr Baba-Ahmed stated.
Meanwhile, Islamic cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi condemned the bombing as a war against Islam.
“The attacks are symbolic of a harbinger (of a) neo-Crusade war against Islam. Attack on Sokoto, where 90% are Muslim with no imminent danger of terror, while the real threat is in Maiduguri and on a Christmas Eve, with the claim of protecting against Christian genocide, says a lot,” Mr Gumi said on Friday.
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