Niger Republic Crisis Splits ECOWAS Parliament

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) parliament was divided on Saturday over how to address the political deadlock in Niger Republic triggered by the coup.

While some members urged for military intervention in regional administration, others argued dialogue and diplomacy were the best approaches to resolve the situation.

The positions were taken when the 22 parliamentarians held an extraordinary meeting, held virtually, to discuss the Niger Republic impasse.

The members who were against military action put forward the fate that could befall the masses if the country was invaded by forces trying to dislodge the coupists.

Ali Djibo, from Niger Republic, said already no fewer than 9,000 schools have been shut since the crisis, adding that the best solution was dialogue and that military action had never been the best option anywhere in the world.

Djibo said: “War will only compound the economic woes the peoples of the sub-region are already going through.

“As we speak, over a thousand trucks, loaded with goods, are stranded at the border.

“If a coup happened in Nigeria or Cote’d’Iviore tomorrow, where’s the ECOWAS going to mobilize troops to fight the Nigerian or Ivorian military? How many borders are we going to close?

“We must also bear in mind that if we’re applying the ECOWAS treaty, it should be applicable to all.”
For Awaji-Inombek Dagomie Abiante (Rivers), ECOWAS must pay keen attention and treat the root causes of coups in ECOWAS countries.

He said diplomacy must be used to resolve the problem.

‘What has dialogue done in Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea?’Members of the ECOWAS Parliament rooting for a military solution to the Niger Republic matter said dialogue and diplomacy had tamed the spread of the coup in West Africa.