Growing insecurity in Nigeria: Tinubu attacks the AES, the Alliance responds

While meeting with leaders of the Oyo State Traditional Council in late July, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu commented on the military operation that freed students and teachers abducted in Oyo State earlier that month. He specifically suggested that not all of the terrorists involved in the abductions were from Nigeria.

“Some of them are not Nigerian. You see, the insecurity in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger only exacerbates our difficulties. That is why we must strengthen the capacity of the forest rangers and create a state police force,” said the occupant of Aso Rock. In the ESA countries, the Nigerian leader’s remarks have been met with strong criticism.

These are "inaccurate statements and hardly compatible with the spirit of solidarity that should prevail between neighboring states."

Burkina Faso's Foreign Minister, Karamoko Jean Marie Traoré, summoned the Chargé d'Affaires of the Nigerian Embassy in Ouagadougou on the evening of Thursday, August 6. During the meeting with the diplomat, the Burkinabe official, acting on behalf of the ESA countries, expressed the Sahelian states' deep regret regarding President Tinubu's "inaccurate remarks." He deemed them "incompatible with the spirit of solidarity that should prevail between neighboring states facing a common threat."

"A quick, very simplistic and surprising analysis that reveals a worrying bias on the part of Nigeria's highest authority."

The authority also denounced an interpretation of the security situation in the AES that obscures the considerable sacrifices made daily by the Defense and Security Forces and the populations of Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali in the fight against terrorism.

"This is a quick, very simplistic and surprising analysis which reveals a worrying bias on the part of Nigeria's highest authority," criticized Karamoko Jean Marie Traoré.

“We would have preferred that the security context be presented more accurately, rather than placing the responsibility for a complex situation on neighbouring countries, at the risk of fueling misunderstandings and frustrations between peoples linked by history, geography and fraternity,” continued the Burkinabe foreign minister.

"We are not responsible for what happens to us. We pay the price."

He also noted that despite the established links between Boko Haram and certain terrorist groups active in the Sahel, the member states of the AES Confederation have always refrained from any public accusations against Nigeria, favoring an approach based on cooperation and shared responsibility. The Burkinabe official concluded by urging the Nigerian authorities to prioritize unifying and solidarity-based rhetoric rather than statements likely to fuel divisions or misunderstandings between neighboring nations.

“We are not responsible for what is happening to us. We are paying the price, but the real enemies are elsewhere. That is why we must act as brother peoples, united by a common history and facing the same threat,” said Karamoko Jean Marie Traoré.

It should be noted that this meeting between the Burkinabe Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Chargé d'Affaires of the Nigerian Embassy in Ouagadougou took place in the presence of the Chargés d'Affaires of the Malian and Nigerien Embassies. This illustrates the coordinated position of the three ESA member states.