The Senate, on Thursday, ordered an investigation into allegations made by Niger Republic’s military leader, General Abdourahmane Tchiani, accusing the Nigerian government of colluding with France to destabilise the country’s internal security.
The Red Chamber also mandated its Joint Committees on National Security and Intelligence and Foreign Affairs to conduct a fact-finding visit to the areas mentioned in the allegations, particularly Sokoto, Zamfara and Kebbi States, to verify the presence or absence of Lakurawa bases.
These resolutions followed a motion sponsored by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on National Security and Intelligence, Senator Shehu Buba (Bauchi South) during plenary.
Senator Buba, while presenting the motion, emphasised that a major concern was Tchiani’s wrongful implication of Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, and the former Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, NIA, Ahmed Rufai, in the alleged conspiracy.
He said Tchiani alleged that the Nigerian government was facilitating the terrorist group Lakurawa, which operates in the North-West to establish bases in Sokoto, Zamfara, and Kebbi States, adding that foreign military bases in Nigeria were being used to target Niger’s oil pipelines and create security threats in the country.
