By Najib Sani, Gombe
Some Nigerian civil society organisations (CSOs), operating under the aegis of the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign in Nigeria, have condemned the reported multiple airstrikes carried out by the United States against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
According to reports, the US carried out airstrikes across Venezuela overnight on Friday, with explosions rocking the capital, Caracas, before dawn.
The groups — the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, Anti-Fascist Movement, Federation of Informal Workers of Nigeria (FIWON), and African Farmers and Agricultural Practitioners (AFAP) — made the condemnation in a joint press statement issued to our correspondent on Saturday.
They described the attack as a criminal act of imperialist aggression against a sovereign nation “that dares to resist domination, exploitation and neoliberal control.”
“The alarming uncertainty surrounding the whereabouts and safety of President Nicolás Maduro following these attacks underscores the reckless and lawless nature of this aggression.
“Targeting a sovereign state and its leadership through military force is not diplomacy; it is terrorism at the level of states,” the statement read in part.
The groups argued that the attack was not about democracy or human rights, but about oil, control and punishing a people who refuse to bow to imperial dictates.
According to them, history has shown — from Iraq to Libya, from Afghanistan to Latin America — that US military interventions have allegedly resulted only in death, destruction, chaos and prolonged instability.
“Venezuela is the latest target in this long and bloody record of imperial violence.
“As Nigerians and Africans, we recognise this playbook. We have lived through colonialism, proxy wars and foreign interference disguised as ‘humanitarian intervention.’ We therefore stand firmly with the people of Venezuela and their right to self-determination, sovereignty and resistance,” they said.
The activist groups demanded an immediate halt to all US military attacks and threats against Venezuela, as well as full and transparent information on the safety and whereabouts of President Nicolás Maduro.
They also called for the lifting of all “illegal sanctions and economic warfare” imposed on the Venezuelan people.
The groups insisted that Venezuela’s future must be determined by its people alone, free from bombs, sanctions, threats and coercion.
“We call on the Nigerian government, the African Union and progressive governments of the Global South to break their silence and openly oppose this act of imperialist violence. Silence in the face of aggression is complicity.
“We urge workers, students, trade unions, youth movements and revolutionary forces across Africa and the world to rise in solidarity with Venezuela. An injury to one oppressed nation is an injury to all. The struggle of Venezuela is part of the global struggle against imperialism, exploitation and domination,” the statement added.
