The leader of Nigeria’s INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church has warned the US of grave consequences if it invades Niger
A Nigerian cleric, Primate Elijah Ayodele, has warned US President Joe Biden against ordering a military strike in coup-torn Niger, saying that any such “satanic and terrorist move” will attract God’s anger.
Ayodele, the leader of the INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, made the statement on Wednesday after Niger’s ousted president, Mohamed Bazoum, reportedly asked Washington to intervene in defeating the military government that seized power last month.
In a press release published on several local media outlets, the religious leader said, “US involvement is just a means to enslave the people of Niger Republic” and to start a “third world war, which God is against.”
Ayodele insisted that invading the West African country would also “discredit” Biden and destroy his government.
Niger’s new military government has defied regional and international calls to release and reinstate Bazoum, who has been detained since the July 26 coup.
France, Germany, and the US have all cut development aid to Niamey in order to force the coup plotters to restore constitutional order.
Last Thursday, Biden demanded that Bazoum and his family be released immediately, claiming that Nigeriens made him president “through free and fair elections.”
