An emergency meeting of the chiefs of staff of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Ghana from August 17-18 will mainly focus on finalizing the plan for the military intervention in Niger, a French news agency reported on Thursday, citing sources.
An unnamed officer of the ECOWAS standby force told the broadcaster that no order had been given to stop the deployment, so the activation of the troops was still in force, despite diplomatic measures taken by the community.
A military takeover took place in Niger on July 26. President Mohamed Bazoum was ousted and detained by his own guard, led by Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani. Following the takeover, ECOWAS suspended all financial aid to Niger, froze rebels‘ assets and imposed a ban on commercial flights to and from the country. In early August, during a summit in the Nigerian capital of Abuja, ECOWAS leaders agreed to activate a standby force to potentially compel the Nigerien military to reinstate Bazoum.
