The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has stated that most of its member states are ready to participate in a standby force that could intervene in Niger following a coup in the country last month that ousted President Mohamed Bazoum, the democratically elected president of Niger.
This was the resolution of the defense chiefs from the 15-member regional bloc who met in Accra on Thursday as part of the latest efforts to overturn the removal of Mohamed Bazoum, Niger’s president, who was deposed in a July 26 coup.
According to ECOWAS commissioner Abdel-Fatau Musah on Thursday, all member states except those under military rule and Cape Verde are ready to participate in the standby force.
“Democracy is what we stand for, and it’s what we encourage,” Nigeria’s Chief of Defense Staff, General Christopher Gwabin Musa, said at the start of the two-day meeting in Accra. “The focus of our gathering is not simply to react to events but to proactively chart a course that results in peace and promotes stability,” he added.
After a deadline of August 6 expired for mutinous soldiers to free and reinstall Bazoum or face military involvement, a meeting to discuss the problem in Niger was called. In the nation’s capital, Niamey, Bazoum continues to be under house arrest with his wife and son.
Due to various mediation teams it deployed to Niamey as well as a lack of agreement among its members, ECOWAS has been debating the use of force, which it defined as a “last resort,” for weeks.
Burkina Faso and Mali, which have been under military rule since 2020, warned that any military intervention in Niger would be declared an act of war, revealing a fracture in the region between its coastal countries and those in the volatile Sahel.
Guinea, which is also run by the military and has denounced all acts of aggression from abroad, has been silent.
