Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, who chairs the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), announced today, Thursday, at the conclusion of a summit discussing the coup in Niger, that the group has not ruled out any options, including the use of force as a last resort. He affirmed: "We remain committed to supporting Niger in its journey towards peaceful democratic stability. I hope that through our collective efforts, we can reach a peaceful solution as a roadmap to restore stability and democracy in Niger. Everything is not over yet."
In the final statement of the summit, the group indicated that it had ordered its reserve forces to be put on alert. The final statement of the "ECOWAS" summit called for the immediate activation of the reserve forces of the member states, and condemned the detention of Niger's President Mohamed Bazoum by the military council.
The summit, hosted by Nigeria, was convened to discuss the response of the group’s leaders to the military coup that occurred last month after the military council in Niamey defied their previous threat to use force to restore democracy. The meeting, which included closed talks, took place just hours after the coup leaders formed a new government, which dominated the agenda of the summit before it began.
Since the coup on July 26, which shocked the region, the military council has rejected diplomatic initiatives and ignored a deadline that passed on August 6, set by ECOWAS to restore the ousted President Mohamed Bazoum to power.
