The Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission, Moussa Mahamat, has expressed his support for the decisions adopted by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to deploy its standby forces to restore constitutional order in Niger Republic.
TheHintsNews reports that ECOWAS had on Thursday directed its standby force to restore constitutional order in Niger Republic.
The regional body noted that all efforts made to dialogue with the Niger Republic military junta have been rejected by the coupist, even as it condemned continuous detention of President Mohamed Bazoum and his family members.
However, in a statement issued Friday, Mahamat also expressed deep concern at the reported poor conditions of detention of President Mohamed Bazoum, adding that concordant sources attest to a worrying deterioration of such
conditions.
The statement reads: “The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat, expresses his strong support for the decisions adopted by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on anti-constitutional change in Niger.
“The Chairperson calls on the military authorities to urgently halt the escalation of relations with the regional organization ECOWAS, including the cessation of the continued sequestration of President Bazoum in worryingly poor conditions.”
Mahamat noted that such treatment of a democratically elected president through a regular electoral process is unacceptable.
The Chairperson, therefore, called for the immediate release of Bazoum and all members of his family and government who are illegally detained with him.
He noted that their detention flies in the face of Nigerien law and the founding principles of the AU and ECOWAS.
