The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) troops have stated that they are prepared to join a standby force that may intervene in Niger.
President Mohamed Bazoum was overthrown by presidential guards, and ECOWAS gave the military a seven-day deadline to reinstate the president or face sanctions, including potential military intervention.
The junta, however, rejected ECOWAS’s ploy and promised to oppose outside interference.
The regional organization then requested that its standby force be activated from among its 15 members’ defense chiefs.
The Defence Chiefs said on Thursday that they were ready to reinstate civil government in Niger during a meeting held in Accra, the capital of Ghana.
All member governments, with the exception of those that are governed militarily and Cape Verde, have pledged their preparedness to join the standby force.
Abdel-Fatau Musah, the commissioner for ECOWAS, is credited with saying that.
General Christopher Gwabin Musa, the Chief of Defence Staff of Nigeria, was further quoted by the media as saying,
“Democracy is what we stand for and it’s what we encourage,”
“The focus of our gathering is not simply to react to events, but to proactively chart a course that results in peace and promote stability.”
A division in the area between its coastal nations and those in the unstable Sahel was revealed by Burkina Faso and Mali, which have both witnessed several coups since 2020. They warned that any military action in Niger would be deemed an act of war.