ABUJA, NIGERIA-The Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS has ordered the deployment of what it calls a standby force against the military junta in Niger.

The decision for the restoration of constitutional order to the West African nation was reached in Abuja, Nigeria, on Thursday, August 10, 2023, during the Extraordinary Session on Niger’s political situation.

Reading a communiqué at the end of the Summit, the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Omar Alieu Touray, directed the Committee on Chief of Defense Staff, to activate the ECOWAS standby force with immediate effect.

Mr. Touray also reiterated ECOWAS’ condemnation of the attempted coup d’état and the illegal detention of President Mohammed Bazzoum.

He called on the African Union and other partner countries and institutions, including the United Nations, to support ECOWAS’s effort to restore constitutional order in Niger.