ABUJA, Nigeria: Concerned West African leaders are due to meet today (Saturday) to discuss the coup in Niger and a series of crises that have rocked the region.
The ECOWAS said in a statement that heads of state are expected to discuss politics and security in Niger, as well as “recent developments in the region at the ECOWAS bloc summit in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.
Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum was ousted in a military coup last July, prompting ECOWAS to suspend trade and impose harsh sanctions.
But the bloc’s warnings of military intervention have faded with little indication that Bazoum – still imprisoned in the presidential palace in Niamey – is closer to being reinstated.
On the eve of the summit, Bazouma’s lawyers urged ECOWAS to demand his release.
Four of the bloc’s 15 member states have been hit by recent coups: Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Guinea.
They were expelled from the organization and were not to be represented at the summit.
The top three announced their intention to permanently withdraw from the bloc in January, but ECOWAS called for “reconciliation” and urged them to return.
Their new military leaders accused former colonial power France of instrumentalizing ECOWAS, and the country expelled French ambassadors and forces while turning politically and militarily to Russia.
Ahead of the summit, ECOWAS co-founder and former Nigerian military leader General Yakubu Gowon called for the “lifting of all sanctions that have been imposed on Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali and Niger.”
West Africa was also rocked by President Macky Sall’s sudden decision to postpone elections in Senegal.
Sall faced growing calls to set a date for the presidential election after his sudden delay to the February 25 poll sparked weeks of confusion. He emphasized that his mandate will end as planned on April 2.
Sall was due to attend Saturday’s summit, but it was unclear whether the leaders would discuss the crisis in Senegal.
