Niger’s military says it will prosecute deposed President Mohamed Bazoum for “high treason and undermining the internal and external security” of the country.
The charges against Bazoum were disclosed in a statement read out on national television late Sunday, by the junta spokesman, Colonel Major Amadou Abdramane, hours after a group of Nigerian Islamic scholars announced a meeting with Niger’s coup leader Abdourahamane Tchiani in Niamey.
Recall that the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has called for Bazoum’s reinstatement, imposing severe economic sanctions on Niger and threatening military intervention if civilian rule is not restored.
Meanwhile, the West African bloc, which has approved the deployment of a “standby force to restore constitutional order” in Niger, has said it remains committed to finding a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
Abdramane also said ECOWAS sanctions on Niger are “illegal, inhumane and humiliating” measures making it difficult for people to access medicines, food and electricity.
Moreover, the senior Islamic scholars that visited Niger coup leaders said the military junta had agreed to hold “direct talks” with West Africa’s regional bloc.
Sheikh Abdullahi Bala Lau, who led the Nigerian delegation, told newsmen that their mission to Niamey was aimed at creating an “avenue whereby the leaders of the junta coup in Niger will have a dialogue with the ECOWAS leaders to understand each other”.
During their meeting, Tchiani “accepted to have fully direct discussions with the leaders of ECOWAS”, he said.
The Muslim scholars visited Niamey with the blessing of Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, who also heads ECOWAS. Tinubu has adopted a firm stance against the coup, the sixth to hit an ECOWAS member state since 2020.
The bloc has severed financial transactions and electricity supplies as well as closed borders with landlocked Niger, blocking much-needed imports to one of the world’s poorest countries.
