A former Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau (retd.), on Tuesday said the United States may be positioning itself to establish a military base in Nigeria.

He stressed that the recent narratives by some foreign actors, including United States politicians and religious leaders, about alleged persecution of Christians in Nigeria may be linked to external interests.

Dambazau, also a former Minister of Interior, made the claims in Abuja when he spoke at the 7th Annual lecture organised by the Just Friends Club of Nigeria.

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He said the United States previously operated military bases in Niger Republic for more than a decade without preventing insecurity in the country.

He said, “In the more than ten years of US presence in Niger, where it maintained two military bases, what did the US do to prevent the growth of security challenges?

“It is also on record that at the initial second coming of the Trump administration, US congressmen accused USAID of terrorism financing in Africa. I think the US is looking for an opportunity to establish an alternative base in Nigeria, a country known to protect only its interests by any means possible, including the use of force.

“Unfortunately, they have willing partners in Nigeria. It is clear that there is a lack of national cohesion in facing a common enemy to address terrorism and criminal violence in the country.”

The former army chief said insurgency and terrorism in Nigeria are part of broader regional insecurity, particularly in the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin, and not targeted at a single religious group.

According to him, both Muslims and Christians have been victims of attacks

He listed past attacks in the North — including the killing of worshippers in mosques, assassinations of Islamic clerics and attacks on traditional rulers — to say that terrorism in Nigeria affects people of all faiths.

He called for national cohesion in responding to insecurity and warned against allowing external actors to exploit Nigeria’s internal divisions.