The Ulama Forum in Nigeria has expressed deep concern over the recent ECOWAS ultimatum issued to the current leaders of Niger Republic.
This was conveyed in a press release obtained by Daily News 24 following an emergency meeting on Wednesday, August 2, 2023.
The Forum highlighted the potential risks to the peaceful relationship between Nigeria and Niger, as well as the stability of the entire Sahel region.
It condemned a military intervention in Niger Republic and emphasized that the choice for good governance should be left to the citizens of each country.
The forum also ECOWAS sees ultimatum as encroaching on the sovereignty of Niger and counter to democratic protocols.
It warned against the consequences of a potential international war in the region, stressing the adverse effects on security, governance, and regional cooperation.
Instead of force, the forum laid out some recommendations to bring an end to the crisis in Niger.
It reads ” Nigerian government, and by extension the ECOWAS, should retract from treading the undemocratic path of issuing threats or employing violence and, instead, take to the more enlightened and more informed diplomatic protocols in assisting Niger Republic to restore its democracy.
” The Nigerian National Assembly should wake up to its constitutional responsibility of critically looking into this issue and exercising the necessary
check on the Executive and prevent Nigeria from going into needless war.
” Faith based organizations in the country, from across the faiths, should embark on preaching for peace in the region and maintaining the good neigbourliness that has long existed between Nigeria and Niger.
“The Ulama Forum calls upon the Muslim Ummah to embark on earnest prayers for Allah’s mercy in touching the hearts of our leaders so that they listen to the voice of reason and not to succumb to the influence of subterranean hands.
“It is vitally important for the Nigerian government to consider its current formative stage and the security threats that are spread all over the nation which are stretching its resources and capabilities than to rush into an avoidable conflict with a neighbour at the behest of global politicking.
There has been a flurry of calls by groups, individuals including a prominent Kano based cleric Dr. Muhammad Sani Rijiyar Lemo calling for a peaceful resolution to the crisis, urging ECOWAS to thread the path of diplomacy.
