Leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have deployed coalition troops to the Republic of Niger with the charge to restore constitutional order following a coup.
President of ECOWAS, Omar Alieu Touray, ordered the immediate invasion of Niger during a meeting of the organisation on Thursday, August 10, 2023.
The Second Extraordinary Summit on the socio-political situation in Niger held in Abuja, Nigeria’s opened today [Thursday].
Touray said; “We direct the committee of defence staff to activate the ECOWAS standby force with all its elements immediately to restore constitutional order in the Republic of Niger.”
Attendees at the summit include Presidents of Guinea Bissau, Senegal, Cote ‘d’ Ivoire, Ghana, Benin, Sierra Leone, and Togo, while Liberia and the Gambia were represented by their Foreign Ministers.
The approval for military intervention comes amid widespread warning that an invasion could plunge sub-Sahara Africa into crisis.
Meanwhile in other news…
Adetunji Adeleye, the Corps commander, Ondo State command of Security Network Agency, popularly known as Amotekun, has revealed that more than 7,000 criminals have been apprehended across the State since its establishment over three years ago.
He made the revelation during an interactive session organized by the State Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), titled “The Platform.”
The Amotekun boss further said no fewer than 1,500 persons have been charged to court in the state and many of them have already faced judgement for their crimes.
Adeleye maintained that within the last two years, the clashes have decreased by more than 95 percent, stressing that the decline is a testament to the agency’s dedication in fostering peaceful coexistence between farmers and herders in the State.
“The sister security agencies, particularly, the DSS has often assisted us in getting the requisite geo-location of kidnap victims and suspects.
“All these coupled with our local intellect and unconventional methods assisted us in arresting to date, well over 7,000 suspected criminals out of which 1,500 of them have been charged to court. We’ve even secured judgement of very many of them,” he said.
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