Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abuja
__________________________________
PRESS RELEASE
No: MFA/PR/2021/15
OFFICIAL STATEMENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA ON THE
DEVELOPMENTS IN CHAD
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, on behalf of the
Federal Government of Nigeria, expresses shock and sadness on the passing away of His Excellency,
the Marshall of Chad, Idriss Deby Itno, who died as a result of injuries suffered in frontline battle
with rebels, earlier today (April 20, 2021).
2. Nigeria expresses great concerns over evolving developments in Chad. The interim leadership of Chad and all stakeholders, at home and abroad, including the two armed groups still fighting must not allow the evolving developments in Chad to feed into more chaos with its attendant
consequences. Nigeria calls for urgent consideration of dialogue among all the stakeholders, which
Nigeria is willing to guide and mainstream, within the framework of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
and ultimately, the African Union (AU). An early return to democratic governance in Chad should
be the ultimate goal but the immediate objective is the stabilisation of Chad as well as the regions of ECCAS, ECOWAS and the Sahel.
3. The influence and relevance of Idriss Deby Itno lay in his capacity to make Chad act as a buffer between North Africa, the Sahel, East and West Africa and, in particular, containing the negative
extreme tendencies that are domiciled in these regions. In the Lake Chad region, the late President Itno and Chad remained the strongest allies of Nigeria in the Multinational Joint Taskforce, the
Lake Chad Basin Commission and in the fight against Boko Haram and insurgency. The great leader of Chad will be missed and glowingly remembered for his efforts to stabilise our subregions and
maintain the peace and their socio-economic development. His demise could lead to vacuums that could implode in these subregions, hence the need to appeal to all stakeholders in Chad to embrace dialogue to resolve their differences in the interest of peace and the sustainable development of Chad.
4. Late President Idriss Deby Itno’s 31 years presidency of Chad have been momentous. Since
the independence of the country in August 1960, this represented the longest administration which also stabilised Chad from 2008 until his demise. Apart from gradually turning Chad into a modern State during his life time, President Itno uplifted Chad’s diplomacy within ECCAS and AU. Chad’s
military capability has been rated as the best modern army in the region which successfully contained terrorism in the Sahel and armed groups against Chad for over three decades. His death today marks a tragic end to brilliant military and political careers of service to his country.
5. President Idris Deby Itno demonstrated leadership and died in the defence of his country. This illustrious son of Chad and Africa will be dearly missed. May he rest in peace and may the Almighty comfort his family and the people of Chad. Geoffrey ONYEAMA reporting for;
Brooom Nigeria
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