The leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will reconvene on Thursday for another Extraordinary Summit of the Authority to discuss the political situation in Niger.
The Summit will be held in Abuja, and is expected to decide whether or not it is willing and ready to use force to return Niger to constitutional democracy.
According to an ECOWAS memo, the leaders will be considering and discussing the political situation and recent developments in Niger.
This will be the second ECOWAS meeting to discuss the Niger coup.
At the end of its first meeting, over a week ago, ECOWAS condemned the coup in Niger and imposed sanctions on the land-locked country.
The sanctions include the closure of land and air borders and the freezing of accounts. Also, ECOWAS issued a seven days ultimatum for the reinstatement of President Mohamed Bazoum by the putschists.
The ultimatum ended yesterday (Sunday) and there has since been uncertainty about what the next line of action will be for the regional bloc.
Recall that ECOWAS had threatened to use force if its demand is not met by the Niger junta but many in Nigeria, including the country’s parliament, are opposed to the deployment of troops. Nigeria is expected to provide a large chunk of the troops that will be sent to Niger if ECOWAS decides to use force.
The threat by ECOWAS, however, appears not to have moved the putschists in Niger.
The Niger junta have remained defiant and refused to meet with the last ECOWAS delegation to the country.
