The Committee of Chiefs of defense staff (CCDS) of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will meet in Abuja on Wednesday 2 August on the political situation in Niger.
The Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government decided to hold this summit at their Extraordinary Session on July 30, 2023, in Abuja, Nigeria.
On August 4, the meeting is scheduled to end.
The “immediate release and reinstatement” of Mohamed Bazoum, the elected president of Niger, who has been detained by the military since last Wednesday, was sought by ECOWAS leaders over the weekend.
If the authorities’ demands are not satisfied within a week, (ECOWAS) will take all necessary actions to reestablish the Republic of Niger’s constitutional order. The use of force may be one of these measures. To this end, the ECOWAS chiefs of defense staff are to convene right away, the group announced in a statement following its meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, on Sunday.
In addition to stopping energy transfers, ECOWAS declared the “suspension of all commercial and financial transactions between ECOWAS member states and Niger”.
It declared that it was implementing a “travel ban and asset freeze for the military officials involved in the coup attempt” as well as freezing Niger’s assets in ECOWAS central and commercial banks.
“The same applies to their family members and the civilians who accept to participate in any institutions or government established by these military officials,” said the statement, which was read out at the end of the crisis meeting by Nigerian president and ECOWAS chairman Bola Tinubu.
SOURCE: ASAASE RADIO
