Trump’s invasion threat: Nigeria not in panic mode – Idris

Amid growing concerns over alleged plans by United States President Donald Trump’s administration to attack terrorist formations in Nigeria, Mohammed Idris, minister of Information, has dismissed claims that the Nigerian government is in panic mode over the matter.

Idris, while fielding questions from State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu, stated that although the issue was discussed at the Council meeting, the President and members of the cabinet remain calm in their response to it.

“Yes, indeed, that came up during deliberations at the Federal Executive Council meeting, but the most important thing that I want to say is that the government of Nigeria is responding to the genuine concerns raised.

“But that does not mean we are in any panic mode here. We are responding responsibly and steadily, in the interest of our country, while also taking into account concerns from both within and outside the country about the situation.

“Let me say for the umpteenth time, Nigeria is a country that has tolerance for religion.

“The politics of it aside, we genuinely are taking the issues seriously, but let me also say that government, even before these events of the last few days, has been extremely committed to ensuring that Nigeria is indeed safe for everyone.”

The Minister’s position came amid claims that the US military has began mobilisation of its men to strike, if the Nigerian government fails to take decisive action against the terrorists.

According to the Minister, the “killing of even one Nigerian citizen is of concern to the government of Nigeria, and of course, because our constitution guarantees the right of everyone to worship his or her religion without hindrance, the government of Nigeria is committed to that, will continue to do that, and wherever there is any violence affecting any citizen in this country, the government of Nigeria has indeed the responsibility to ensure that its being tackled.”

Reacting to questions on whether the threat is affecting the way government is being run, Idris said “the government of Nigeria is really very stable. The president is calm, like we have said. He is calm. The Federal Executive Council members are indeed very calm.

“That is not to discountenance the issue. Are there issues of security in this country? Yes, there are. Are people being killed in parts of this country? Yes. But is there anything that government is doing to also checkmate that? Yes, indeed there are. Is government also responding to this? Yes, it is.”

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He also assured that the response “is being done with the greatest sense of responsibility while maintaining the balance that we require to face these issues head on.

“The issues of terrorism, violence from extremists, it’s not something that is just done by one country.

“We have porous borders and that is why we have cooperation with our regional partners. We also have cooperation with international partners, including the United States and Nigeria will continue to engage. Now, have we had any discussions with the government of the United States? Yes. Channels have been opened. We prefer that this situation is being solved diplomatically.

“We don’t want to escalate the rhetoric of you have said, we have said, and all that. The responsibility that we have as a government is to ensure that whatever genuine concerns that there are to keep our citizens safe, the Nigerian government will continue to do that,” he stated.