ECOWAS orders standby troops into Niger to restore constitutional order

In order to restore constitutional order, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has announced that it has started activating its standby force in the Niger Republic.

Following a Thursday meeting in Accra, Ghana’s capital, of the defence ministers from member countries, the regional group made this statement.

The organisation claimed that even though the defence chiefs had supported calls for discussion as a strategy for mediating in Niger, all aspects of potential military action had been planned and were in the process of being perfected.

This includes the schedule, resources required, and the manner, location, and timing of the deployment of such force.

Following the Niger junta’s defiance of the group’s deadline to restore ousted President Mohamed Bazoum, ECOWAS last Thursday ordered the deployment of military soldiers in standby in the nation.

At the conclusion of the second special summit organised to address the crisis, the decision was made.

President Bola Tinubu, the ECOWAS chairperson, said during the meeting that the group’s leaders had been instructed to use all available means of communication to facilitate a prompt restoration of constitutional government in Niger.

Action was required, according to Tinubu, because the political crisis in Niger not only threatens the country’s stability but also has significant ramifications for the entire West African area.

The head of ECOWAS reaffirmed that the organisation would continue to support Niger in its efforts to achieve peaceful democracy and stability.

After meeting with Nigeria’s intervention team, which was made up of Islamic clerics, a few days after the bloc’s operations, the military junta in Niger said that they were willing to seek diplomatic negotiation.

The military government of Niger, in a surprising turn of events, announced it will charge the “deposed president and his local and foreign accomplices before the competent national and international authorities for high treason and undermining internal and external security.”

The prosecution of Bazoum, according to ECOWAS, would go counter to the junta’s earlier acknowledged determination to restore constitutional order by peaceful means.

The regional organisation then requested that its standby force be activated from its member states’ defence ministers.

The defence chiefs declared during their meeting on Thursday that they were ready to reinstate civil rule in Niger.

Abdel-Fatau Musah, the ECOWAS Commissioner, reportedly told Al Jazeera that all member states, with the exception of Cape Verde and those under military rule, have confirmed their willingness to join the standby force.

The medium further quoted Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher 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,” Musa added.