West African Army Chiefs with their Ghanaian counterparts and ECOWAS officials
Ambassador Dr. Abdel-Fatau Musah, Commissioner of Political Affairs, Peace and Security for the ECOWAS Commission, has indicated that constitutional order will be restored in Niger using all available measures.
Speaking at the Extraordinary Meeting of the ECOWAS Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff on the political situation in the Republic of Niger in Accra yesterday, Dr. Musah said the military junta in Niger is playing cat-and-mouse game with the ECOWAS, explaining that they failed to respond positively to ECOWAS diplomatic efforts.
“The delegation sent on 3rd August 2023 by the Chair of the ECOWAS Authority, H.E Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and led by General Abdulsalami A. Abubakar (Rtd.), former Head of State of Nigeria, was confined to the Diori Hamani airport in Niamey under the pretext of an explosive security situation hostile to ECOWAS, where they met a CNSP delegation led by General Salaou Barmou,” he noted.
“By all means available, constitutional order will be restored,” Dr Fatau stressed, and added, “If push comes to shove, we are going into Niger with our machinery; we are not going to beg for alms.”
The meeting was convened to further the deliberations on the directives received from the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government in relation to the political situation in Niger.
The second extraordinary meeting was held within a space of two weeks on the situation in Niger, after the very successful one held from August 2 to 4, 2023 at the Defence Headquarters of the Nigerian Armed Forces in Abuja.
Defence Minister
Minister of Defence, Dominic Nitiwul said the security of the ECOWAS sub-region was going through one of the difficult moments after the challenges in the 1990s when rebel incursions destabilised parts of the ECOWAS sub-region.
“In recent times, the scourge of Terrorist Armed Group (TAG) and Violent Extremist Organisations (VEO) attacks and activities have been a source of worry to every government in the sub-region,” he stated.
According to him, the populations of countries affected by the activities of TAG/VEO were paying heavy prices, loss of human life, and deterioration of critical infrastructure, school dropout and lingering humanitarian crisis.
“States are gradually losing control of their territory, leaving large parts of it for TAG/VEO, who now control and carry out various criminal activities and illicit cross-border trafficking.
“Weakened by a very difficult security and humanitarian situation, some of the ECOWAS states have fallen into social and political crisis and subsequent military takeovers,” the minister noted.
Mr. Nitiwul pointed out that four (4) of the member states are facing sanctions for resorting to unconstitutional change of governments which contradicts the ECOWAS protocol on good governance and democracy.
He said after the illegal detention of President Mohamed Bazoum by members of the presidential guard in Niger on July 26, 2023, ECOWAS used all diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis, but the head of the military junta in Niger remained defiant, even after the one-week deadline.
He recalled that during the last Extraordinary meeting of the ECOWAS Heads of State and Government on the political situation in Niger, the Heads of State directed the Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff to immediately activate the ECOWAS Standby Force with all its elements for deployment to restore constitutional order in Niger.
“The communique issued on August 10, 2023 by the Heads of State and Government which was signed by His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Nigeria reaffirms that His Excellency President Mohamed Bazoum remains the legitimate elected president and Head of State of the Republic of Niger recognised by ECOWAS, the African Union and the International Community,” he stated.
“My dear Generals, you and your dedicated and loyal troops today stand on the threshold of history, as professionals who are being tasked to help the people of West Africa to enable them to continue to elect their leaders through free, fair and transparent general elections. I am of the firm belief that you who form part of the most experienced soldiers within our sub-region will put in place a strategic plan that will boost confidence amongst our people and restore hope within our various countries.
“My Dear Generals, the spirit of our people in West Africa is with you, as you meet here to put together the plan which will meet ECOWAS’ directives. Let us stay united, loyal and committed to the decisions of ECOWAS and the authority of our various Heads of State and Government and replicate what the past military leaders of ECOWAS did in countries like Liberia, Sierra Leone, the Gambia and Guinea Bissau,” he charged.
By Ernest Kofi Adu