Abdulsalami Abubakar Leads ECOWAS Delegation To Niger Republic

A delegation of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) led by Nigeria’s former Head of State, Abdulsalami Abubakar, has arrived in Niamey, Niger’s Capital, to negotiate with the country’s military junta.

Truetells Nigeria reports that Abdulsalami is accompanied by the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Abubakar, and the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Alieu Tourayn.

An ECOWAS official also told AFP that a delegation from the bloc led by Abubakar would visit Niger Republic on Wednesday.

Recall that the junta seized power in Niger last week and ousted democratically elected President Bazoum.

The new military government by Abdourahmane Tiani, former head of ousted Bazoum’s presidential guard, had detained Bazoum in his palace on account of bad governance and later declared himself head of state.

On Sunday, ECOWAS slapped sanctions on Niger and warned that it may use force as it gave the junta a week to reinstate President Mohamed Bazoum.

As part of efforts to remedy the situation, ECOWAS sent President Patrice Talon of Benin and the Chadian Leader Mahamat Déby, to Niger to speak with the coup plotters but the actions did not yield any success.

Following a meeting on Sunday, ECOWAS announced a number of sanctions, including freezing “all commercial and financial transactions” between member states and Niger.

The organisation also threatened to resort to the use of force if Bazoum is not reinstated within a week from the bloc’s last meeting.