The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has again issued a stern warning to leaders of Niger Republic military junta that no harm must come to ousted President Mohamed Bazoum.
The President of the ECOWAS
Commission, Omar Touray, who gave the warning at a press conference held on Friday at the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja, said though the sub-regional body has neither declared war on the people of Niger Republic nor planned to invade the country, the use of the regional standby force will be activated if anything happens to Bazoum.
Touray said that Niger Republic, as part of the West African regional bloc, subscribed to its rules and regulations to deploy measures to support its fight against terrorism to ensure the restoration of democracy, peace, and security in the community and as such must abide by the rules guiding the body.
“ECOWAS wishes to remind the Niger coup leaders 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.
“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.
“The deployment of the standby force is not an invasion. It is a deployment to restore constitutional order.
“Those who challenge the legality of the decision of ECOWAS Heads of State need to do more research,” Toure said.