The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has called on the Nigerian government as well as members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to reopen the Nigerien and Nigerian borders to allow economic activities to resume in earnest.
It said the continued closure of the borders has affected many small-scale businesses in the two countries, including food supply, medicine, petrol and electricity, among others.
This was contained in a statement issued by the National Publicity Secretary of ACF, Professor Tukur Muhammad Baba and made available to newsmen in Kaduna Thursday.
The statement noted that since July 2023, Nigeria and other ECOWAS member countries have maintained a regime of economic sanctions, along with a threat of military intervention, to pressurise the military regime in Niger into restoring the erstwhile civilian government of Mohammed Bazoum, in response to the June 2023 military coup (in Niger).
“After severally doubling down on the threat, ECOWAS recently announced a conditional willingness to dialogue with the Nigerien military regime without removing the threat of military action.
“ACF condemns any change of government, anywhere, through non-constitutional means. ACF also believes in the sanctity of bilateral or multilateral agreements, especially ECOWAS, an important organisation that Nigeria laboured hard to ensure was established”, the statement said.
ACF notes that Nigeria-Niger communities enjoy close historic socio-cultural, economic, and political ties that predate European colonialism and decried the imposition of “arbitrary and artificial boundaries between our peoples.” (DailyTrust)