African Union has suspended the membership of Niger a month after the coup by what they called a “faction of military officers”.
The body’s Peace and Security Council (PSC) once again condemned the coup, and welcomed the actions taken by ECOWAS since the ousting of President H.E. Mohamed Bazoum.
This is as reports suggest that President Bola Tinubu is holding meeting with the some critical stakeholders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in a bid to interven in the crisis in Niger Republic.
The meeting, it was reliably learned was part of efforts to see a way of setting the political crisis after the military overthrew the democratically elected President.
Participants in the meeting included the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr Omar Touray; leader of the ECOWAS delegation to Niger Republic’s military junta, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, and the National Security Adviser (NSA) to the President, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.
Although the agenda of the meeting was not made public, it was gathered that the reason would revolve round averting armed conflict over the Niger Republic crisis.
Army officers toppled President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26, prompting the West African regional bloc ECOWAS to threaten to use force to reinstate him.
In prompt response, ECOWAS agreed to activate a “standby force” as a last resort to restore democracy in Niger
Ecowas had earlier decided to deploy their standby force if the Niger junta does not hand power back to Bazoum’s administration, and asked the AU Commission to assess the implications of deploying the force.
Ecowas also requested a high representative from the AU for mediation efforts, while the AU said it “strongly rejects” interference from outside the continent ” including engagements by private military companies in the continent in line with the 1977 OAU Convention for the Elimination of Mercenarism in Africa”.
Niger is the fourth nation in West Africa since 2020 to suffer a coup, following Burkina Faso, Guinea and Mali.
The juntas in Burkina Faso and Mali have said that any military intervention in their neighbour would be considered a “declaration of war” against their countries.
The coup is the fifth in Niger’s history since the impoverished landlocked state gained independence from France in 1960.
