West African Military Chiefs To Meet Saturday On Niger Crisis After ECOWAS Declared Deployment Of Standby Force

On Saturday, the West African military chiefs will meet to discuss the Niger Republic crisis. 

This comes after a summit held in Abuja on Thursday by leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) after which the bloc ordered the deployment of a "standby force" in the effort to resolve the Niger crisis, regional military sources told AFP. 

SaharaReporters on Thursday reported that the Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, Chairman of the regional bloc, 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.

Also, the bloc 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.

The bloc also called on the African Union, AU, 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.”

He continued: "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."