Niger: ECOWAS Military Chiefs To Meet In Ghana Over Military Intervention In Niger

Military Chiefs under the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will meet in Accra, Ghana on Thursday and Friday to discuss the possibility of a military intervention in Niger Republic.

This was revealed on Tuesday by an ECOWAS spokesperson.

The meeting had been scheduled to hold on Saturday but was postponed till Thursday as the body continues to explore ways to negotiate with the self-appointed military head of state in Niger, Abdourahmane Tchiani.

This meeting comes after ECOWAS had, last Thursday, ordered its defense chiefs to be on standby for military action in Niger, following the ongoing coup in the country that led to the ousting of its democratically elected President, Mohamed Bazoum.

Heads of state of ECOWAS had convened in Abuja where they reaffirmed that they would explore a diplomatic route to resolve the issues in Niger.

The military junta came into power after staging a coup and ousting Bazoum on July 26, after which it appointed one of its generals, Abdourahmane Tchiani, as President.

ECOWAS had given the junta a seven-day ultimatum on July 30, within which it had to stand down and restore Bazoum to his position as President, however, the ultimatum expired with little reaction from them.

Most recently, the junta revealed plans to prosecute Bazoum on charges of high treason. ECOWAS swiftly cautioned the junta against that, describing the prosecution plans as a provocation in a statement.