Coup: Using Force Against Niger Not Ruled Out – Tinubu

EKO HOT BLOG reports that Nigeria’s president and head of the West African bloc ECOWAS has not ruled out military intervention in Niger, but believes diplomacy is the “best way forward” to resolve the crisis, his spokesman said Tuesday.

Bola Tinubu weighed in for the first time since the soldiers behind the coup in Niger defied the bloc’s Sunday deadline to reinstate elected president Mohamed Bazoum or face the possible use of force.

EDITOR’S PICKS

• BREAKING: Tinubu Appoints Special Investigator To Probe CBN

• BREAKING: ECOWAS Imposes No Flight Zone On Niger Republic Over Coup

• JUST IN: Nnamdi Kanu Meets With Personal Doctor Outside DSS Facility In Abuja

Meanwhile, efforts by ECOWAS and the United States to parlay with Niger’s new rulers have made no headway ahead of a crisis summit in the Nigerian capital Abuja on Thursday.

“No options have been taken off of the table,” Tinubu’s spokesman Ajuri Ngelale said — but Tinubu and other West African leaders favour diplomacy.

The United States said it still held out hope for reversing the coup but was “realistic” a day after a top US envoy made no visible progress in an unannounced visit.

FURTHER READING

• Details Of Atiku’s Meeting With PDP Leaders Revealed

• Politicians Are Using Ethnicity To Divide Nigerians – Peter Obi Speaks Out

• Again, U.S. Secretary Of State, Blinken Calls Tinubu Over Niger’s Political Saga

“We do have hope that the situation will be reversed but at the same time, we are making clear, including in direct conversations with junta leaders themselves, what the consequences are for failing to return to constitutional order,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

Click to watch our video of the week