ECOWAS Defence chiefs met in Ghana on Thursday and agreed to deploy troops to Niger Republic to restore democratic governance if all efforts to get the junta out of office fail.
President Mohamed Bazoum was sacked from office on July 26 by senior military chiefs, following the footpath of Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea.
ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security Abdel-Fatau Musah, who addressed the defence chiefs in Ghana said “Let no one be in doubt that if everything else fails, the valiant forces of West Africa…are ready to answer to the call of duty.”
“By all means available, constitutional order will be restored in the country,” he was quoted by Reuters as telling defence chiefs from member countries.
He listed past ECOWAS deployments of troop in Gambia, Liberia and elsewhere as examples of readiness.
Musah rejected the accusation that ECOWAS was being manipulated by France or any other outside power.
According to him, “What they forget is that ECOWAS is a rules-based organisation. We have our protocols, we have our norms and we are ready to protect them.
“That’s why the heads of state are saying if push comes to shove we are going into Niger with our own contingents, own equipment and our own resources to make sure we restore constitutional order. If other democracy-loving partners want to support us they are welcome.”
Musah accused the Niger coup leaders of “playing cat-and-mouse” with ECOWAS by refusing to meet with its envoys and seeking justifications for their takeover of power.
