Niger coup plotters threaten ECOWAS as Tinubu summons emergency meeting

Niger coup plotters threaten ECOWAS as Tinubu summons emergency meeting

ECOWAS led by President Bola Tinubu will today (Sunday) convene a meeting of heads of states in the region to decide on the course of action against the forceful takeover of power in Niger Republic.

Ahead of the meeting, the military leaders in Niger on Saturday night warned, in a statement read on Niger national television, against any military intervention.

“The objective of the (ECOWAS) meeting is to approve a plan of aggression against Niger through an imminent military intervention in Niamey in collaboration with other African countries that are non-members of ECOWAS, and certain Western countries,” the junta spokesman, Colonel Amadou Abdramane, said.

“We want to once more remind ECOWAS or any other adventurer, of our firm determination to defend our homeland,” he said.

The junta issued a second statement on Saturday night inviting citizens in the capital to take to the streets to protest against ECOWAS and show support for the new military leaders.

Sunday’s ECOWAS meeting of heads of government will hold in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.

It will also be attended by the president of Chad, which though is not an ECOWAS member, shares borders with Niger and Nigeria.

The military coup in Niger has been widely condemned by its neighbours and international partners who have refused to recognise the new leaders and have demanded that Mr Bazoum be restored to power.

Bazoum has not been heard from since early Thursday when he was confined within the presidential palace, although the European Union, France, and others say they still recognise him as the legitimate president.

Members of the presidential guard on Wednesday led by Colonel-Major Amadou Abdramane, announced they had carried out a coup and closed all West African borders.

The coup follows the continuous deterioration of the security situation and the bad social and economic management, Abdramane said.

The African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC), on Friday, announced a 15-day ultimatum for coup plotters in Niger to return to the barracks.