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ECOWAS Head Says Benin President On Mediation Mission To Niger
By AFP - Agence France Presse
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Benin's President Patrice Talon is travelling to Niger to mediate after the country's leader was held by his guards in an apparent attempted coup, Nigeria's President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said on Wednesday.
Disgruntled members of President Mohamed Bazoum's elite guard on Wednesday sealed off his residence and offices in Niger's capital Niamey and after talks have refused to release him.
Nigeria's Tinubu, who as the new head of the regional bloc ECOWAS has pushed for a return to democracy in West African countries now run by juntas, said Talon was on his way to Niger after the "military misbehaviour" there.
"He is going there now, he is on his way," Tinubu said after meeting with Talon in Abuja before his departure.
It was not immediately clear whether Talon was acting on behalf of ECOWAS or Tinubu himself.
He was already scheduled to make an early visit to three members of the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) where coups have taken place since 2020 -- Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea.
"The situation is worrying enough that ECOWAS and President Tinubu, the President of Nigeria, a neighbour of Niger, with Benin, also a neighbour of Niger, take it seriously and want to act quickly," Talon said before leaving.
"I believe that all means will be used, if necessary, for constitutional order to be restored in Niger, but the ideal would be for everything to happen in peace and harmony."
ECOWAS Head Says Benin President On Mediation Mission To Niger
Benin's President Patrice Talon is travelling to Niger to mediate after the country's leader was held by his guards in an apparent attempted coup, Nigeria's President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said on Wednesday.