Russia expresses concern over US planned strike on terrorists in Nigeria
By Omolade Adegbuyi
The Russian Federation is closely monitoring developments in Nigeria, the European country said on Tuesday to the delight of local groups who see Russia as an ally. NIgeria is Africa’s most populous country with over 200million people.
The President of the United States, (US) Mr Donal Trump has said he would strike terrorist cells in Nigeria. He blamed the local authorities for not doing enough to protect Christians.
Thousands of Christians and Muslims have been victims of cold blooded murder by Islamic extemists that started in North-East Nigeria but now spreading across the country. Thousands of people have been killed.
Likewise, the African Union (AU) Commission stressed that the US must respect the sovereignty of Nigeria and engage in diplomatic dialogue in addressing the problem of insecurity in the West African country.
President Bola Tinubu has been engaged in meetings with critical stakeholders to address the lingering problem.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova spoke during a weekly press briefing in Moscow. He urged Washington to act in line with international law.
“We are closely monitoring this issue and call on all parties involved to strictly comply with international legal norms,” Zakharova told RT while responding to a question about the situation in the African country.’ In his reaction, the Alliance for Yoruba Democratic Movement, (AYDM) praised Russian for her keen interest in Nigeria.
‘We are glad that the Government of Russia has shown keen interest in developments in Nigeria, a country that has been a satelite state of imperialism. The stunted growth of Nigeria, corruption and nepotism have for decades been promoted by the West through their rookie agents that rule the country’.
The AYDM Secretary General, Popoola Ajayi told Irohinoodua in a telephone interview. He said Nigeria is moving towards total collapse adding that terrorism is just a sypthom of years of misrule and the daylight robbery of the country by local leaders and their Western collaborators.
He said ‘We are glad that an ancient friend of the Yoruba people, Russia is interested in the developments in Nigeria. It shows we are not alone in the struggle for Yoruba liberation from Nigerian imperialist enclave.’
The Yoruba are arguably the largest ethnic group in Nigeria and the region most industrialised with enormous oil and solid mineral resources.
The AYDM is the coalition of 130 Pan Yoruba self determination groups. The movement said President Vladimir Putin and the people of Russia‘should not abandone the people of Nigeria and should take active steps to be active participant in defining the fragile future of the ethnic groups in Nigeria.
AYDM said ‘Nigeria is like the old Soviet Union in 1990 which contradictions have reached the peak.
The country may go the way of Soviet Union or the way of Yugoslavia.’
Speaking in the same vein, the African Union said it ‘notes with concern recent statements by the United States of America alleging that the Government of Nigeria is complicit in the targeted killing of Christians and threatening military action.”
It noted further that “The AUC emphasises the Federal Republic of Nigeria is a longstanding and valued Member State of the African Union, playing a key role in regional stability, counterterrorism, peacekeeping initiatives, and continental integration.’
