The president of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) commission, Omar Touray has said the bloc had not declared war on Nigerians following the July coup in the country.
Addressing newsmen on Friday, he said he needed to clear the misconception about the stand of ECOWAS on the coupists.
‘We don’t want people to be confused. Unfortunately, this decision has been taken out of context and repeatedly represented in the media as a declaration of war against the republic of Niger or a planned invasion of the country. It is even tragic that some influential persons in the community have promoted this narrative which has been hyped in the social media as the gospel truth.
These persons have conveniently ignored the strenuous efforts of the community to engage the military authority in Niger to reverse the attempted coup.
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“For the avoidance of doubt, let me state unequivocally that ECOWAS has neither declared war on the people of Niger nor is there a plan as it is being purported to invade the country. The ECOWAS authority of Heads of states and governments has only activated a full-scale application of sanctions which include the use of legitimate force to restore constitutional order,” he said.
The military took over in July and ousted democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum.
The coup has been condemned by the African Union (AU), ECOWAS, the United States, France and other western countries.
