A plane carrying the delegation landed in Niger’s capital, Niamey, on Saturday, a day after the ECOWAS military chiefs said they were ready to intervene to reinstate Bazoum.
According
to report, delegation from the Economic Community of West African States
(ECOWAS) has arrived in Niger for talks with the military officers who seized
power and ousted President Mohamed Bazoum.
The ECOWAS
delegation is headed by former Nigerian leader Abdulsalami Abubakar.
Niger’s
governing military council has also confirmed the arrival of ECOWAS
representatives.
ECOWAS
defence chiefs met within the week in Accra, Ghanaian capital, to fine-tune
details of a potential military operation to restore Bazoum if ongoing
negotiations with coup leaders fail.
ECOWAS had
agreed to activate a “standby force” as a last resort to restore democracy in
Niger after generals toppled and detained Bazoum.
However,
the West African bloc says it favours dialogue to defuse the crisis.
Meanwhile,
a source close to the latest delegation said it would send “a message of
firmness” to the army officers and meet Bazoum.
“We are
ready to go any time the order is given,” Abdel-Fatau Musah, an ECOWAS
commissioner for political affairs and security, said on Friday after the
military chiefs’ meeting.
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