Members of the Economic Community of West African States’ delegation to Niamey have met with ousted Nigerien President, Mohamed Bazoum.
This is according to Radio France International (RFI) radio station.
The meeting with Bazoum, the newscast said was attended, among others, by former Nigerian head of state, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, who led the ECOWAS delegation.
ECOWAS had activated its standby force and said all options were on the table if the Niger junta refused to reinstate President Bazoum.
PHOTOS: Niger Prime Minister Receives Abdulsalami-led ECOWAS Delegation
Mali, Burkina Faso deploy warplanes in Niger after fresh ECOWAS threat
At the end of a two-day meeting of ECOWAS Defence Chiefs in Accra, Ghana capital, Abdel-Fatau Musah, ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, said the regional bloc’s troops were waiting for order to strike.
“We are ready to go any time the order is given. The D-day is also decided. We’ve already agreed and fine-tuned what will be required for the intervention. As we speak, we are still readying [a] mediation mission into the country, so we have not shut any door,” Musah said.
After Musah’s press conference, Burkina Faso and Mali, which had earlier warned against any military intervention in Niger, deployed war planes in the troubled nation.
In a joint statement issued weeks back, the governments of Burkina Faso and Mali said, “The disastrous consequences of a military intervention in Niger could destabilise the entire region.”
The latest move of Mali and Burkina Faso was disclosed by Niger’s national television.
In a report, the television station said the military leaders from Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger convened Friday in the Nigerien capital Niamey to decide on “concrete measures” in case ECOWAS chooses to “escalate a war.”
Most of ECOWAS’s 15 member states are prepared to contribute to the joint force, except Cape Verde and those also under military rule – Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea.
