The Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has planned another meeting to potentially take decisive actions against the coup leaders in Niger Republic. This follows the expiration of the threat of the use of force against the coup leaders if they did not reinstate deposed President Mohamed Bazoum to power.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, has summoned an Extraordinary Summit of the Authority to discuss the political situation in the Republic of Niger. This meeting follows a recent extraordinary summit held on July 30, during which West African leaders imposed sanctions on the Nigerien junta led by Abdourahmane Tchiani.
The forthcoming summit is scheduled to take place in Abuja on Thursday, August 10, 2023. The statement from the ECOWAS Commission Headquarters in Abuja indicates that the leaders will be discussing the political situation and recent developments in Niger.
During the previous extraordinary summit, President Omar Touray of the ECOWAS Commission announced that all Chiefs of Defence Staff from member states would convene for an emergency meeting to strategize on ways to implement a potential military operation to reinstate President Bazoum. He emphasized that ECOWAS would take necessary measures, including the use of force, to restore constitutional order in Niger.
The chiefs of defence staff from ECOWAS member states held this meeting in response to the directive from the Authority of Heads of States and Governments of ECOWAS. The meeting aimed to devise strategies to address the increasingly defiant junta, which has received support from fellow coupists in Mali and Burkina Faso.
