The president, Commission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Omar Alieu Touray, has said the planned military action in Niger is not a war on the country or its people but to restore the democratic order in the country and give the people back the good they deserve.
Touray said this at a news conference yesterday, stressing that the regional bloc had not taken and would never take any action against the interest of Niger.
The Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS member countries have threatened to use force to restore democratically elected president Mohamed Bazoum who was toppled on July 26 in a military coup led by General Abdourahmane Tchiani. The regional bloc has imposed a raft of sanctions on the Niger junta but the coup leaders have remained adamant.
Touray said at the news conference; “We would like to use the opportunity to reassure the good people of Niger Republic that our major concern is for their welfare as we work assiduously to restore civilian rule and political stability in the country, and indeed in the other ECOWAS member states currently under military rule, in the spirit of solidarity and collective security which is at the heart of our integration agenda.”
“Coup d’etat is a tragedy for our regional efforts at consolidating democracy after the political crises of the 90’s exemplified by the civil wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone. Through collective efforts of our community, the region was stabilised and the foundation for democracy and the rule of law restored.
“Indeed, until about three years ago, all leaders in the ECOWAS region were democratically elected. Unfortunately, the ill winds of coups started blowing again recently and the region has experienced three successful coups and two failed coups. The current development in the Republic of Niger adds to the list of attempted coups d’état in the region. So, you can understand why the Heads of State and Governments have decided that this is one coup too many and resolved that it was time to end the contagion. The situation in the Republic of Niger is particularly unfortunate as it comes at a time the country is doing comparatively well in terms of security and economic growth.”
Touray, who justified the planned deployment of the standby force, added; “The ECOWAS security architecture, which has informed other security arrangements within and outside the region, is anchored on a number of instruments. These include the 1991 ECOWAS Declaration of Political Principles; the Revised ECOWAS Treaty of 1993, the 1999 ECOWAS Protocol relating to the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping and Security as well as the 2001 Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance.
“The deployment of the ECOWAS standby force is provided for in the 1999 mechanism. Specifically, Article 25 expressly stipulates the conditions for the deployment of such a force. Among other conditions, the article provides that the force can be deployed ‘in the event of… an overthrow or an attempted overthrow of a democratically elected government.’ Furthermore, the Supplementary Act of 2012 also provides for sanctions to be invoked against members that fail to honour their obligations to ECOWAS. It also provides for the use of legitimate force in the restoration of constitutional order. Niger Republic is a signatory to all these instruments. Those who challenge the legality of the decision of ECOWAS Heads of State need to do more research.”
He said: “In taking its decision of 30th July and 10th August 2023, the authority of Heads of State and government was only activating these provisions. Unfortunately, this decision has been taken out of context and repeatedly misrepresented in the media as a declaration of war against Niger Republic or a planned invasion of the country. It is even tragic that some influential persons in the community have promoted this narrative which has been hyped in the social media as the gospel truth. These persons have conveniently ignored the strenuous efforts of the community to engage with the junta to reverse the attempted coup.
“For the avoidance of doubt, let me state unequivocally that ECOWAS has neither declared war on the people of Niger nor is there a plan, as it is being purported, to ‘invade’ the country. The ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government has only activated a full-scale application of sanctions which includes the use of legitimate force to restore constitutional order.”
“In the interim, the region is employing other elements of its instruments and engaging with the military authorities as can be attested to by the several missions that have been fielded to the country and our joint efforts with our partners, including the African Union and the UN. We are hopeful that these diplomatic efforts will yield the desired outcome and make it unnecessary for the deployment of the force.”
Touray while stating that there is no specified date for the use of force to return democratic governance back to Niger, said the military option was still on the table.
He said: “Nonetheless, preparations continue towards making the force ready for deployment. Consequently, the technical arms of the decision-making organs, which include the Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff have also been directed to prepare the community enforcement mechanism in case it becomes compelling to deploy the force.”
“We believe that even now it is not too late for the military to reconsider its action and listen to the voice of reason as the regional leaders will not condone a coup d’état. ECOWAS also wishes to remind them of their responsibility for the security and safety of President Bazoum, members of his family and government.
“At this juncture let me reiterate that the real issue is the determination of the community to halt the spiral of coups d’etat in the region. We are all brothers irrespective of the artificial borders but the rule of law has to be upheld.”
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