It will be illegal for Nigerian military to join ECOWAS forces against Niger junta, lawyer says 

 

 

Following the declaration of war against the Niger junta by the leadership of the Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS), a lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, has said it will be unconstitutional for Nigerian troops to participate in the invasion. 

 

At the ECOWAS Extraordinary Meeting in Abuja on Thursday, ECOWAS President, Omar Alieu Touray,  read the organization’s decision on the coup in Niger, which included “to direct the committee of the Chief of Defence Staff to activate the ECOWAS stand-by force with all its elements immediately.

 

“Order the deployment of the ECOWAS stand-by force to restore constitutional order in the Republic of Niger.”

 

Effiong says since the Nigerian Senate earlier passed a resolution against the deployment of troops, it will be illegal for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to counter that order. 

 

He said: “The deployment of ECOWAS Standby Force to ‘restore constitutional order” in Niger is a terrible decision. Since the Nigerian Senate has passed a resolution against the involvement of our military in Niger, it will be unconstitutional for our Armed Forces to participate in it.”