The Economic Community of West African States has deployed a standby force against Niger’s military Junta, insisting that no option is off the table in resolving the political crisis in the Republic of Niger.
The Chairman of the regional bloc, President Bola Tinubu, said “no option is taken off the tables including the use of force as the last resort” in his closing remarks at the extraordinary meeting of ECOWAS leaders in Abuja on Thursday.
The bloc also directed the immediate enforcement and monitoring of sanctions on the Republic of Niger military junta.
It also ordered the “deployment of the ECOWAS stand-by force to restore constitutional order in the Republic of Niger”.
The President of ECOWAS, Omar Alieu Touray, declared this while reading the resolution of the bloc on the Niger coup following the extraordinary meeting in Abuja.
It called on the African Union, United Nations, partner countries and institutions to support the resolution taken by the sub-regional body.
ECOWAS lamented that efforts made to have peaceful dialogue with the military junta in Niger were rebuffed.
It also directed the “committee of the Chief of Defence Staff to activate the ECOWAS standby force with all its elements immediately”.
It, however, declared its willingness to embrace diplomacy in resolving the political crisis in the country.
Earlier, Tinubu said, “We prioritise diplomatic negotiations and dialogue as the bedrock of our approach.”
“Regrettably, the seven-day ultimatum we issued during the first summit has not yielded the desired outcome. We must engage all parties involved, including the coup leaders, in earnest discussions to convince them to relinquish power and reinstate President Bazoum.
“It is our duty to exhaust all avenues of engagement to ensure a swift return to constitutional governance in Niger.”
