UPDATED: Use Of Force In Niger Republic ‘Not Ruled Out’—ECOWAS

The Economic Community of West African States has restated that employing the use of force to restore constitutional order in the Niger Republic is still very much on the table.

President of the ECOWAS Commission, Omar Touray, said this during a press briefing on the Niger political stand-off at the ECOWAS Headquarters in Abuja.

“The use of force is still very much on the table as provided for by the ECOWAS instruments. The Heads of State have indicated that they will use all measures available to restore order.

“These instruments are old instruments as you have heard me say. They date as far back as the 2000s, and the 1990s, and these instruments have been subscribed to by all member states including Niger Republic.

“If we have no problem with the instruments, we should have no problem with the implementation of the instruments. The fact that all of us can travel around in West Africa without visas, we can trade without tariffs, are all part of the instruments that our community has taken just like taking this particular instrument.

“So as earlier stated, the use of force is very much on the table, alongside other measures that we are working on.

“The Heads of State have demanded the return of constitutional order in Niger immediately,” he said.

Touray also clarified that ECOWAS never stated that the use of force would be deployed at the end of the seven-day deadline it had previously issued to the junta on the country.

“If you look at the decision, it says the authority of Heads of state and government would employ all measures to restore constitutional order in the Republic of Niger and these measures may include the use of force.

“So, when we say the decision of Heads of State and government has been taken out of context, this is what we mean. We said all measures, which may include the use of force and then only the use of force was extracted and blown up,” he clarified.

Responding to a question from the media on why ECOWAS is more stringent on Niger than other member nations, he said, “No, ECOWAS is not more stringent against Niger. ECOWAS has decided to put a stop to the spate of coup d’etats that we have been witnessing in the sub-region and has therefore decided to implement the instruments that are already in existence, to which all member states have subscribed.”

He referred to the refugees and displaced people in Niger as the real victims of the military coup, stating that ECOWAS is taking all its actions in their interest.

“Regarding the refugees, displaced persons, and vulnerable groups in general, including ordinary brothers and sisters in Niger, whatever the community is doing, we are doing it in their interest.

“Those who have no contribution whatsoever to what is going on. Nigeriens remain our brothers and sisters, no mistake should be made about that, nothing is being done against the interest of the people in Niger.

“Refugees and displaced persons, these are the real victims of the unconstitutional action that some members of the military have decided to take in Niger. So, we should all work to ensure that the actions we are taking do not impact the ordinary people, or refugees and displaced persons,” he said.

Regarding the use of mercenaries, he said, “Let me just say this. ECOWAS and the African continent as a whole stand against the use of private military contractors on the continent and again we have continental instruments against their use.”

When asked if there are plans to invade Niger, he asked that the word ‘invade’ be removed from our vocabulary when speaking on this matter, as well as the phrase ‘declaration of war.’