AN ATTEMPT by the Russia to flex a bully muscle over the arrest and prosecution of its nationals, who face charges of illegal assault weapons and firearms importation to Africa’s regional power, Nigeria, is setting off a firestorm.
Sharpedgenews.com has just received information that Russian government officials have demanded an “immediate and unconditional release” of its citizens whom a Nigerian court ordered to be remanded in prison custody last Monday.
Very reliable sources told sharpedgenews.com that Russia is threatening to jeopardize Nigeria’s prospect of a United Nations Security Council slot if its citizens, allegedly held in Ikoyi Prisons in Lagos, are not released.
The highly influential National Security Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan, the retired Colonel Dasuki, has allegedly rallied a strong resistance to what is considered an annoying and condescending” demand of Russia, insisting that Nigeria engages in reciprocal diplomacy and that since Nigerians in foreign jails are never granted any known special treatments, the Russian illegal arms importers should be made to face the full weight of the law for failing to disclose the content of their vessel.
Nigeria’s case against the Russian actors is strengthened because of the heightened security situation precipitated by sectarian violence by Islamic fanatics. Russia faces its own demons from Moslem insurgents in its federation.
It is therefore easy to find a possible nexus between the Russians and the dissident Muslims in Nigeria.
Moreover, as Nigeria is in good standing with its Western counterparts as it pertains to tackling the issue of Islamic extremism, it is expected that Nigeria will call Russia’s bluff.
A Nigerian government official who wishes to remain anonymous because he wasn’t authorized to speak on the issue told sharpedgenews.com that Nigeria would not be stampeded into doing the bidding of another nation whose citizens have so flagrantly flouted Nigeria’s territorial laws.
Russia has a history of being on the wrong side of issues, often by siding with renegade regimes and individuals who threaten the freedoms and aspirations of many communities.
From Syria to Iran and Libya, Russia has shown it prefers to be on the wrong side of history siding with autocrats who double down on their tyrannical orientation to suffocate citizen freedoms.