THE Senate today has received a letter from President Bola Tinubu informing it of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) decisions as regards the political situation in Niger Republic.
In the letter, President Tinubu also requested Senate backing for the ECOWAS resolution, which includes military involvement to restore democracy in the neighboring country.
President Mohamed Bazoum was detained and deposed by his own security on July 26 in the region’s third putsch in three years, following takeovers in neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso.
The regional body had given Niger’s military a week beginning from Sunday to reinstate ousted President Mohamed Bazoum or face harsher sanctions.
Tinubu’s letter read, “Following the unfortunate political situation in the Niger Republic culminating in the overthrow of its President, ECOWAS under my leadership condemned the coup in its entirety and resolved to seek the return of the democratically elected govt.
“In a bid to restore peace, ECOWAS convened a meeting and came out with a communique.
“Closure and monitoring of all land borders with the Niger Republic and reactivating of the border drilling exercise. Cutting off Electricity supply to the Niger Republic
“Mobilizing international support for the implementation of the provisions of the ECOWAS communique, preventing the operation of commercial and special flights into and from Niger Republic, blockade of goods in transit to Niger especially from Lagos and eastern seaports.
“Embarking on sensitization of Nigerians and Nigerians on the imperative of these actions, particularly via social media. Military build-up and deployment of personnel for military intervention to enforce compliance of the military junta in Niger should they remain recalcitrant.
Yesterday, Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president of Nigeria, cautioned the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS) against using military hostilities to resolve the Niger Republic’s leadership problem.
Atiku criticized the strategy, stating that deploying military actions might make the situation worse. He maintained that the situation calls for diplomatic efforts, which implies that open lines of communication are essential.
