Ten out the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have gotten their their military’s buy-into in the efforts to restore democratic government in the Republic of Niger.
The Defence chiefs of the 10 countries yesterday expressed in Accra, Ghana, their readiness to participate in the Standby Force being activated by the sub-regional body should the need arise.
At their recent emergency summit in Abuja, ECOWAS Heads of Government directed the Defence Chiefs to activate the Standby Force.
The directive followed the forceful removal from office of President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26 in a putsch by the military led by Gen Abdourahamane Tchiani.
All member states, except those under military rule and Cape Verde, pledged to participate in the Standby Force, according to Reuters, an international news agency.
ECOWAS Commissioner, Abdel-Fatau Musah, was quoted to have said: “Let no one be in doubt if everything else fails, the valiant forces of West Africa…are ready to answer to the call of duty.
“By all means available, constitutional order will be restored in the country,” Musah told the Defence chiefs from member countries, listing past ECOWAS deployments in Gambia and Liberia as examples of readiness.
Al Jazeera quoted Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen Christopher Gwabin Musa, to have said: “Democracy is what we stand for and it’s what we encourage.
“The focus of our gathering is not simply to react to events, but to proactively chart a course that results in peace and promote stability.”
The Presidential Guards staged a palace coup on July 26, forcing ECOWAS to issue a one-week ultimatum to the military to restore the president or risk sanctions.
The ultimatum was ignored by the junta which vowed to resist foreign intervention.
The Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) bloc in Nigeria endorsed the stand taken by both the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on the political impasse.
The SADC in Nigeria (made up of Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, DR Congo, South Africa, Angola, Tanzania and Namibia) threw its weight behind the actions taken so far by the continental body and the West African sub-regional bloc to force the junta to hand over power back to ousted Bazoum.
Dean of the SADC/High Commissioner of Namibia to Nigeria, H.E. Humphrey Geiseb, said the Southern Africa is part of the African Union and definitely concerned about the situations of coups as expressed by ECOWAS which is a regional body just like the Southern Africa Development Community, and equally by the African Union.
The envoy spoke with reporters at the Hope of Survival Ophanage Home, Abuja, where the SADC donated food items to orphans as part of activities to mark the organization’s anniversary.
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