The National Caucus of the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) has strongly opposed any unsolicited foreign military intervention in Nigeria over any matter by the United States of America.

The forum comprises the South-West’s Afenifere, the South-East’s Ohanaeze Ndigbo,, the Pan Niger Delta Forum and the Middle-Belt Forum.

SMBLF also considered the designation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern a wake-up call to the Federal Government to pursue with a sense of urgency and responsibility halting the ongoing mayhem and killings.

A communique issued at the end of the National Caucus Meeting of the Forum held at the weekend urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to reshuffle the offices of the National Security Adviser, Minister of Defence and Minister of State for Defence who are all Northerners to include Southerners.

The communique reads further, “Furthermore, the SMBLF acknowledges the recent reshuffling of the Service Chiefs and welcomes the appointment of new ones. However, we urge the President to extend this reform to the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), the Minister of Defence, and the Minister of State for Defence all of whom are presently from one section of the country. This will not only ensure a comprehensive overhaul of the national defence architecture but also reflect the diversity of the country”

The SMBLF’s communique signed by Afenifere leader, HRM Oba Oladipo Olaitan, President, Middle Belt Forum, Dr. Bitrus Pogu, President-General, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Senator John Azuta-Mbata and National Chairman, PANDEF, Ambassador Godknows Igali, appealed to Tinubu to adopt a nationalist approach by which the Attorney-General of the federation is empowered to set necessary constitutional machinery to effect Nnamdi Kanu’s release.

SMBLF said the release of Nnamdi Kanu would be a salutary directive in the interest of the most needed national rehabilitation and peace.

On the 2027 presidential poll, SMBLF recalled its decision in 2021 that the President of Nigeria in the 2023 election should be from the Southern part of the country in demonstration of Nigeria’s commitment to restructuring and national stability, “and now further resolves that the decision should remain applicable to the 2027 Presidential Election for the same reasons”

The communique reads in parts, “On the Designation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern: The SMBLF notes with very serious concern the designation by the US President Donald Trump of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern over religious persecution against Christians.

“The SMBLF affirms its opposition to any unsolicited foreign military intervention in Nigeria over any matter.Furthermore face the issues on ground in disarming and prosecuting the known militias and killer herdsmen and Islamists terrorists responsible for this, and restore occupied lands to their rightful owners of all faiths and ethnic nationalities especially in Benue, Plateau, Southern Kaduna, Taraba, Gombe, Southern Bornu, Southern Kebbi and all over the rest of the country”

However, prominent Nigerian Christian leaders in the Southern part of Kaduna State have hailed United States President Donald Trump’s recent designation of Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern,” describing it as a “long-overdue moment of truth” that exposes the federal government’s failure to protect its Christian citizens.

They made their position known in a statement signed by the Southern Kaduna Christian Leaders Association (SKCLA) chairman, Apostle Emmanuel Nuhu Kure on Tuesday.

They accused successive Nigerian governments of abandoning Christians in the North to systematic persecution and land seizures while paying lip service to peace and unity.

Kure alleged a coordinated campaign to disenfranchise northern minorities, claim their lands, steal their quotas, debase their traditional institutions and exclude them from political representation.

“At last, someone, somewhere, has taken notice of the plight of Christians in Northern Nigeria, a plight our own government has consistently failed to acknowledge, let alone address.

“For far too long, Christians in the North have been abandoned by the very nation that should protect them. Successive governments, northern Muslim leaders, and even some Christian leaders and governors have paid lip service to peace, human rights, and unity.

“Meanwhile, the systematic rewriting of the history of northern minorities continues, with their lands seized, quotas stolen, traditional institutions debased, and political representation denied,” he said.

The former national secretary of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) pointed to what he called institutionalised religious bias, citing northern universities like Bayero and Sokoto, where churches are allegedly forbidden.

“In many northern cities and institutions of learning, such as Bayero and Sokoto Universities, and in several other northern establishments, churches are not permitted to be built, while mosques abound, thereby encouraging jihadist ideologies that are hostile to the Christian faith.

“This is not so in the South, which is raising the question of whether we have a separate government from the South. What tradition or otherwise permits one sector to be enslaved by the other in these modern times? These are the realities of the North that the Trump question is raising that the government must answer,” he stated.

The clergyman outlined a sustained pattern of persecution, including the “sponsorship and protection of jihadists, forced marriages that destroy Christian homes, and denial of equal opportunities.

“The federal government must no longer deny these realities. It must establish a credible, independent inquiry led by courageous and impartial Nigerians who will be tasked with investigating these allegations.

“The killings in Benue and Plateau States, where there is no evidence of theft or criminality, reveal a scorched-earth campaign targeted at persecuted Christian communities.

“The persistent killing of pastors in Southern Kaduna, the neglect of dangerous roads, and the half-hearted measures in Borno all prove that there is knowledge of the truth, but no political will to confront it,” Nuhu stated.

Trump’s Stand Based on Purported 2010 Report – Akpabio

For his part, Senate President Godswill Akpabio has stated that the US President’s stand on Nigeria is based on a purported 2010 report on the killings in Nigeria, especially Plateau and Benue States.

According to Akpabio, the Senate will deliberate on recent comments made by United States President Donald Trump regarding Nigeria, in collaboration with the executive branch of government.

Speaking during plenary on Tuesday, Akpabio said the matter concerns foreign policy and diplomatic relations, and therefore requires a coordinated national response.

He said, “We have not discussed the issue of President Trump yet in chambers.

We shall do so in combination with the executive because we believe it is a matter of foreign policy and diplomatic relations.

I have refrained from taking any motion on it until we know the direction of the government and what the government intends to do.”

Akpabio noted that Trump’s position on Nigeria was not based on current realities but on an outdated report from 2010.

He said, “The position that President Trump is taking is not based on current realities.

It is based on a purported 2010 report — 15 years ago — where some people came on a fact-finding mission from the US Congress. They visited only Plateau and Benue; they did not go to Zamfara or other areas.”

We’re Open to Dialogue with International Partners – Federal Government

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu remains calm and focused amid recent threats and concerns from the United States, assuring that Nigeria is working to clarify its security efforts to the international community.

Speaking to State House correspondents after visiting the President at the State House in Abuja on Tuesday, Idris described the meeting as part of his routine consultations with the President but confirmed that the issue of the United States’ comments also came up during their discussions.

He said, “Well, it is a routine that we always have with Mr. President. As the Minister of Information, I need to consult with Mr. President from time to time, and this is exactly what we have done.

Of course, the issue of the U.S. threats also came up, and we discussed that extensively with Mr President, and Mr President is calm. He is looking at the whole situation and looking for ways and means of ensuring that the international community understands what Nigeria has been doing.”

Don’t interfere in Nigeria’s affairs, China tells US

Nigeria may become another arena of diplomatic tension between China and the United States, which could further strain relations between the two major superpowers, experts have suggested.

The threat of US military intervention in Nigeria over the perceived failure of the Nigerian government to tackle alleged genocide against Christians by militant Islamic jihadists has triggered a reaction from the Chinese government, which warned against such action, saying it would violate Nigeria’s sovereignty.

On Tuesday, China urged the international community to respect Nigeria’s sovereignty following the US threat of military action.

A statement on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China quoted the spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, Mao Ning, as saying this during a press briefing on Tuesday in Beijing.

She said, “As Nigeria’s strategic partner, China opposes any attempt by foreign powers to use religion or human rights as a pretext to meddle in another country’s internal affairs or impose sanctions and military threats.”

She restated China’s support for President Bola Tinubu’s administration, commending the government for guiding the country along a development path tailored to its national conditions.

Reacting to this development, Nigerian experts in international affairs have said that China’s reaction was based on the recent Comprehensive Strategic Partnership agreement both countries signed last year in Beijing, which was an upgraded version of the two countries’ diplomatic relations.

Speaking  on Tuesday, director of the Centre for China Studies, an Abuja-based intellectual think tank, Charles Onunaiju, said the Chinese government “extended solidarity to Nigeria during trying times based on the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership,” adding that China does not want a misjudgement of the Nigerian situation to levy war in the country, which would complicate things further.

He added that, “China denounces the method of US President Donald Trump, which does not align with the standard of the international community based on rules.”

Also speaking  on Tuesday, another expert in international affairs and diplomacy, Dr Austin Maho, noted that Beijing’s reaction to the US threat of interference reflects China’s quest for Nigeria’s sovereign right and the need to protect its strategic partner from the chaos that may ensue from military intervention.

He said, “Based on the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, China sees it as a duty to protect Nigeria from external aggression disguised as fighting insecurity.”

In September 2024, China and Nigeria established a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, following the establishment of a strategic partnership between the two sides in 2005. The two countries held their first strategic dialogues in 2009. In January 2021, the two countries established the China–Nigeria Intergovernmental Committee mechanism.

In the event of any US military action against Nigeria, however, China will not provide military assistance to Nigeria, as the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership is not a military pact that would entail China defending Nigeria in such an event. Nigeria can only rely on China’s diplomatic support.

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