ABUJA, Nigeria – The Nigerian federal government has dismissed accusations by Niger Republic’s military leader, General Abdourahamane Tchiani, alleging collusion with France to destabilize Niger as “baseless and diversionary.”
“These claims exist solely in the realm of imagination,” Mohammed Idris, Nigeria’s Minister of Information and National Orientation, said in a statement Thursday. “Nigeria has never engaged in any alliance, overt or covert, with France or any other country to destabilize Niger Republic.”
Gen. Tchiani had accused France of planning to establish a terrorist operational center in Gaba, a forested area in Nigeria’s Sokoto State, with Nigeria’s alleged complicity. He also claimed that France was funding Nigeria to establish a military base in Borno State under the guise of combating terrorism but with the hidden agenda of destabilizing Niger and other neighboring countries.
Idris refuted these allegations, describing them as a tactic to divert attention from the failures of Tchiani’s administration, which came to power following a coup.
“Nigeria remains committed to fostering peace, harmony, and maintaining its historic diplomatic ties with Niger,” the statement read, emphasizing President Bola Tinubu’s leadership as ECOWAS chairman in seeking peaceful resolutions to the crisis in Niger.
The federal government pointed to Nigeria’s role in regional security, including its active contributions to the Multinational Joint Task Force and its operations targeting terrorist threats within the Lake Chad Basin.
“The claims about the establishment of a so-called Lakurawa terrorist headquarters in Sokoto State are baseless,” the statement added, citing recent military operations such as ‘Operation Forest Sanity III’ to counter terrorism in the region.
Nigeria also rejected accusations of sabotage against Niger’s pipelines and agriculture, highlighting its support for projects like the trans-Saharan gas pipeline and the Kano-Maradi railway.
“It is illogical to suggest that Nigeria would undermine projects it has actively promoted,” Idris said.
The government challenged Tchiani to provide evidence for his claims and urged the public to disregard the allegations.
“Any attempt to blackmail Nigeria over ECOWAS’s principled stance against the unconstitutional seizure of power in Niger is disingenuous and doomed to fail,” Idris said.
