NIGER COUP: We 'll deploy all avenues of engagement to restore constitutional order, says Tinubu

The ongoing Second extraordinary meeting of the West African leaders on the socio-political situation in Niger Republic has gone into a closed door session.

 Chairman of the ECOWAS Heads of State and goverment Bola Tinubu said it's regrettable that the seven day ultimatum issued during the first extraordinary summit has not yielded the desired outcome as the Military Junta have failed to handover power to the ousted President Mohammed Bazoum.

He says the ongoing meeting will afford the leaders the opportunity to meticulously review and assess the progress made since the last gathering.

The Nigerian Leader said the ECOWAS will exhaust all avenues of engagement to ensure a swift return to constitutional governance in Niger Republic.

He expressed confidence that 2nd summit will be a defining moment in the region's journey towards a stronger, more resilient and integrated west Africa.

The meeting is to deliberate on the various reports of the special envoys dispatched to Niger republic and non-ecowas nation's particularly Libya and Algeria after which a decision will be taken.

West African leaders are currently meeting in Abuja , Nigeria's Capital  to discuss the Political situation in Niger Republic after coup leaders who seized power there on July 26 defied a deadline to reinstate the ousted president or face the threat of military intervention.

Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu who is also Chairman of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has convened another Extraordinary Summit of the Authority on the political crisis in the Republic of Niger. 

In attendance at the meeting holding at the State house Conference centre are President Julius Maada Bio of Sierra Leone, President. Umaro Mokhtar Sissoco of Guinea Bissau, President Everiste Ndayishimiye of Burundi, President Alassane Ouattara of Cote d'Ivoire, President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani of Mauritinia 

Others are President Nana Akofo-Ado of Ghana, President Macky Sall of Senegal and  President Patrice Talon of  Benin Republic

Also expected at the meeting are Togo's  Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé Eyadéma, President Adama Barrow of The Gambia.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which has previously sent military forces into troubled member states and imposed sanctions, had told the coup leaders to stand down by Sunday. But the coup leaders instead closed Niger’s airspace and pledged to defend the country.

Landlocked Niger is more than twice the size of France, and many flight paths across Africa would normally pass through its airspace. Air France suspended flights to and from Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso and Bamako in Mali, which both border Niger, until Friday and warned that some flight times would increase.

The 15-nation bloc has taken a harder stance on the Niger coup, the region’s seventh in three years, than it did on previous ones.

ECOWAS defence chiefs agreed on Friday on a possible military action plan if the detained president, Mohamed Bazoum, was not released and reinstated although they said operational decisions would be decided by their heads of state.

However, the bloc is not united. The military governments in Mali and Burkina Faso, both ECOWAS members, have promised to come to the defence of their counterparts in Niger if needed.