Niger’s Prime Minister Hamoudou Mahamadou announced today, Monday, that the military had asked the delegation of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to “return” to Niamey.
“The junta asked the ECOWAS delegation to return,” Mahamadou said, in an interview with TV5 Monde, noting that the delegation members “will probably be in the Nigerien capital, Niamey, today (Monday) or tomorrow.”
The delegation of West African countries arrived Thursday evening in Niamey seeking to find a way out of the crisis, but left after a few hours without meeting any of the leader of the military group that carried out the coup, Abd al-Rahman Tianyi, or the ousted president, Mohamed Bazoum.
A day after the expiry of the deadline set by ECOWAS for the military until Sunday at 23:00 GMT to hand over power or face the possibility of the use of force, the organization announced in a statement that it will hold a “new extraordinary summit” Thursday in Abuja.
Last week, the leaders of the ECOWAS armies set a framework for a “possible military intervention,” according to an official in the group, but the deadline expired without any action.
In this regard, the Prime Minister of Niger said, “We are not disappointed, because our goal is not military intervention, our goal is to restore democracy and get President Bazoum out of detention.”
He noted that “negotiation is still possible.”
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