The African Union Commission has declared support for the decisions made by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in its quest to restore a democratic government in the Republic of Niger.
The AU Commission's statement is titled 'Statement of support from the Chairperson of the African Union Commission for the ECOWAS decisions of August 10, 2023, on Niger'.
This comes on Friday, a day after leaders in the West African regional bloc held a summit in Abuja, Nigeria's capital to discuss the fallout of the recent coup in Niger which ousted President Mohamed Bazoum.
According to a statement released in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and shared on X, formerly known as Twitter by a security analyst and a counter-insurgency expert on Lake Chad, West African region, Zagazola Makama on Friday, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat "expresses his strong support for the ECOWAS decisions on anti-constitutional change in Niger".
According to the statement, he also expressed "his deep concern about the deterioration of the conditions of detention of President Mohamed Bazoum".
The statement further read, "Indeed, concordant sources attest to a degradation
worrying about such conditions.
"The President of the commission challenges the military authorities on the urgency of stopping the escalation with the regional organization, the distrust towards it and the continuation of the sequestration of the President in conditions which are deteriorating in a worrying way.
"Such treatment of a democratically elected president through a regular electoral process is unacceptable.
"The Chairperson of the Commission calls for the immediate release of President Bazoum, all members of his family and his government who are illegally sequestered with him in defiance of Nigerien law and all the founding principles of the AU and ECOWAS.
"The Chairman of the Commission calls on the whole of the international community to concretely unite all its efforts to save the life and the moral and physical integrity of President Mohamed Bazoum."
SaharaReporters on Thursday reported that Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, Chairman of the regional bloc, said “no option is taken off the tables including the use of force as the last resort” in his closing remarks at the extraordinary meeting of ECOWAS leaders in Abuja on Thursday.
The bloc also directed the immediate enforcement and monitoring of sanctions on the Republic of Niger military junta.
Also, the bloc ordered the “deployment of the ECOWAS stand-by force to restore constitutional order in the Republic of Niger”.
The President of ECOWAS, Omar Alieu Touray declared this while reading the resolution of the bloc on the Niger coup following the extraordinary meeting in Abuja.
The bloc also called on the African Union, AU, partner countries and institutions to support the resolution taken by the sub-regional body.
ECOWAS lamented that efforts made to have a peaceful dialogue with the military junta in Niger were rebuffed.
It also directed the “committee of the Chief of Defence Staff to activate the ECOWAS standby force with all its elements immediately”.
It, however, declared its willingness to embrace diplomacy in resolving the political crisis in the country.
Earlier, Tinubu said, “We prioritise diplomatic negotiations and dialogue as the bedrock of our approach.”
He continued: "Regrettably, the seven-day ultimatum we issued during the first summit has not yielded the desired outcome. We must engage all parties involved, including the coup leaders, in earnest discussions to convince them to relinquish power and reinstate President Bazoum.
"It is our duty to exhaust all avenues of engagement to ensure a swift return to constitutional governance in Niger."