By Ayo Yusuf
Despite the Nigerian Senate spurning President Bola Tinubu’s request for permission to deploy Nigerian troops as part of a multilateral force poised to invade Niger and restore democratic governance, the Defence Headquarters has begun the necessary mobilisation of war logistics for possible invasion of the neighboring country.
The war preparation is in compliance with directives of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, which ordered all the Defence Headquarters of member states to strategise for a possible confrontation with the junta in Niger Republic.
According to sources, the Nigerian military high command has directed the service chiefs to compile and submit war logistics such as the number of personnel, equipment, logistics and financial costs to the Chief of Defence Staff on what it would take to oust the Niger Republic junta.
According to a leaked memo of the operational requirements for the war, about two battalions would be enough to prosecute the offensive against the junta.
A battalion is a military unit typically consisting of 300 to 1,000 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain).
But a military source said the total number of troops should be at least “10 times more than that of the enemy.”
Apart from Nigeria, Senegal, Benin and Ivory Coast, other ECOWAS member states are expected to commit troops to the standby force.
However, there have been divisions in ECOWAS over this matter as some countries led by military juntas themselves refuse to acquiesce to the use of military force against Niger.
ECOWAS had on Thursday activated its standby force for military action against the junta in a decision taken at an extraordinary summit of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of States and Government hosted by President Bola Tinubu in Abuja.
The junta led by General Abdourahmane Tchiani had defiantly refused to yield to entreaties and diplomatic pressure to reinstate Bazoum, who has been in detention at his residence since the takeover on July 26.
Following the coup, the ECOWAS imposed a battery of sanctions on the francophone country to compel the military leaders to reinstate the ousted president.
But the coup plotters ignored a one-week ultimatum to restore democracy issued by ECOWAS and also refused to meet with a delegation led by former Nigerian military Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, last week Thursday.
A source noted that the Defence Headquarters would coordinate the deployment of logistics, troops and equipment for the possible war operation in Niger Republic.
According to a source close to the military, “No deployment has been made for now, but the build-up is ongoing. Services are to forward requirements such as the required number of men, equipment as well as funds that would be needed to mobilise troops to Niger. The DHQ will coordinate the deployment of troops for the operation in Niger.”
When asked about the total number of troops that would be deployed, another source stated, “Military deployments are shrouded in secrecy, but it depends on how many men would be contributed by all members of ECOWAS. The total force should be at least 10 times more than that of the enemy.”
Meanwhile, the Director of Defence Information, Brig. Gen. Tukur Gusau, has assured Nigerians that the participation of the country in the military operation and use of war logistics in Niger Republic would not affect the ongoing war against insecurity in the country.
Asked if the ongoing operation against members of the Indigenous People of Biafra and the Eastern Security Network, Boko Haram terrorists and bandits would not suffer setbacks with the planned deployment of troops to Niger, General Gusau said, “I want to assure you that it will not in any way.”
