Self-styled public affairs commentator, Mahdi Shehu has been arrested by the Department of State Services.
He will be charged to court in Kaduna Monday for publishing false news and circulating a video purportedly validating the presence of French soldiers in Nigeria.
Credible News recalls that the head of the military junta in Niger Republic, General Abdourahamane Tchiani recently accused France of planning to establish a terrorist operational center in Gaba, a forested area in Sokoto State, Nigeria.
Tchiani further alleged that the Nigerian government is aware of these intentions and has been complicit in France’s destabilization efforts in the region.
He said France is also purportedly providing financial backing to Nigerian authorities to set up a military base in Borno State, under the guise of combating terrorism, with the ulterior motive of destabilizing Niger and its neighboring countries.
The Junta head disclosed that Niger’s intelligence had gathered information from arrested terrorists who reportedly disclosed France’s plan to set up a terrorist base in Sokoto with Lakurawa terrorists.
Nigeria has denied all the claims. But many critics of the Tinubu Administration are fanning the embers of the baseless claims.
Franco-Nigerian relations
After President Bola Tinubu’s visit to France at the instance of President Emmanuel Macron, the rumour mill was agog that France which has fallen out of favour with some West African countries was planning to set up a base in Nigeria.
Although the Federal Government has distanced itself from this rumour, it has continued to gain ground. Last Wednesday, Gen Tchiani alleged that President Tinubu received a substantial payment from France, and the European country established a military base in Maiduguri, Borno State capital.
Amid the back and forth, social commentator and activist, Mahdi Shehu, released a video to purportedly show that proponents of this theory were correct.
In a post which he captioned: “FGN SHOULD STOP THE DENIAL: FRANCE ARMED FORCES NOW THE OFFICIAL TRAINERS OF NIGERIA ARMED FORCES”, Shehu made several claims.
“From today, no sane person will believe Tinubu, Ribadu, all service chiefs, and any member of the blotted Tinubu media crowd on the physical presence of France troops in Northwest Nigeria.
“Just listen to the clip below to enable you understand that Tinubu and Co are taking Nigerians for a ride, for granted, betraying all our laws, insulting our collective intelligences and on a journey to mortgage and destroy Nigeria.
“It is left for conscious Nigerians to open their eyes wide, act wisely, with precision, and be willing to sacrifice anything for the survival of Nigeria that few wicked people are bent on destroying. Niger are kicking them out, Nigeria is bringing them in! It seems like we will stay colonized forever!
“With this Terrorism will never end. But why are African leaders so stupid? What in the world are we doing to ourselves? What good is France other than to steal and to destroy?”
However, checks by Daily Trust showed the video which Shehu attached to his post was recorded in 2013. The video captured the moment when the Nigerian Army contingent which was part of the AFISMA (AU) mission landed at the Senou International Airport, Bamako, Mali.
The Nigerian troops subsequently left the airport in buses, one with French flag on the front. Although the incident happened in 2013, Associated Press uploaded it on YouTube on July 31, 2015.
In the video, Ash Saad, a Nigerian Army General, had said: “So like I said the troops are just fresh out of the Nigerian army peacekeeping centre where they have been given the rudiments, the basics, the tactics, the procedures, for peacekeeping operation, and peace enforcement and additionally, all Nigerian troops now go through the various training centres that we have, that have been set up to train our troops in counterterrorism.”
A French Colonel who was in charge of welcoming troops from Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS), had said: “So far, troops have arrived from Togo, Nigeria and Benin: there are 156 Nigerians, 100 Togolese, 25 from Benin and 25 others (from Benin) coming tonight.”
The Nigerian troops were deployed in Mali to support French forces in their fight against militants in northern Mali. The troops were part of a military mission from ECOWAS who assisted in the operation which was aimed at preventing the militants who ruled northern Mali from advancing further south towards Bamako.
Mahdi Shehu’s claim is false and misleading. No evidence that French troops are training Nigerian soldiers.
Crediblenewsng.com
