By Ayo Yusuf
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS Commission) on Friday disclosed it has no plan to invade Niger now as the regional body continues to explore diplomatic options.
The President of the Commission, Dr. Omar Touray, who made this known at a media briefing to clarify the position of ECOWAS on the Niger crisis, said a non-violent resolution of the matter is the ideal and hoped the junta would come to its senses soon.
Mr. Touray did not however rule out the use of military force in restoring the country’s ousted democratically elected President, Mohamed Bazoum, to power if all other measures fail.
President Touray assured the people of Niger that the regional body is concerned about their welfare as it works towards restoring civilian rule and political stability in the country.
He said the prospect of attacking a member state which had been such a great ally in the past or causing more distress to the people who were already suffering as a result of the coup is not one that the regional body preferred.
Ironically, the military junta had on July 27, sacked the democratically elected government of Bazoum, over alleged insecurity and impoverishment of the masses.
Although the people took to the streets to welcome the military intervention, the ECOWAS Commission said the coup had only worsened the Economic and security situation in Niger.
“The situation in Niger was particularly unfortunate as it came at a time when the country was doing comparatively well in terms of security and economic growth,” he said.
President Touray lamented that the current development in Niger has further escalated the insecurity in West Africa which has grown worse following the spate of coups d’état in the region.
He said this was the reason that Heads of State and Government in the region decided that the Niger coup was just “one coup too many and resolved that it was time to end the contagion.”
Explaining the validity of the regional body’s plan to deploy military force to reinstate Bazoum, Mr. Touray tasked those challenging the legality of the decision of ECOWAS Heads of State to do more research.
He regretted that despite the fact that the full weight of sanctions provided in the various articles and charters of the regional body allowed for the use of force, the decision to deploy the military against the junta has been taken out of context and repeatedly misrepresented in the media.
His words: “It is even tragic that some influential persons in the community have promoted this narrative which has been hyped in the social media as the gospel truth. These persons have conveniently ignored the strenuous efforts of the community to engage with the junta to reverse the attempted coup.
“For the avoidance of doubt, let me state unequivocally that ECOWAS has neither declared war on the people of Niger nor is there a plan, as it is being purported, to ‘invade’ the country.
“The ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government has only activated a full scale application of sanctions which includes the use of legitimate force to restore constitutional order.
“In the interim, the region is employing other elements of its instruments and engaging with the military authorities as can be attested to by the several missions that have been fielded to the country and our joint efforts with our partners, including the African Union and the UN.
“We are hopeful that these diplomatic efforts will yield the desired outcome and make it unnecessary for the deployment of the force. Nonetheless, preparations continue towards making the force ready for deployment.
“Consequently, the technical arms of the decision-making organs, which include the Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff have also been directed to prepare the community enforcement mechanism in case it becomes compelling to deploy the force.”
Touray added that the decision of the Heads of State and Government to activate the clause providing for the application of legitimate force in Niger was reached only after all dialogue failed.
“We are deeply concerned about the wellbeing of the people and the country.
“Historically, military administrations have not demonstrated any capacity to better deal with complex political, social and security challenges.
“Let me reiterate that the decision of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, which is currently chaired by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is to work for the peaceful restoration of civilian rule in Niger Republic without any delay and to use all the instruments at the disposal of ECOWAS towards the attainment of this goal,” he said.
